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BUSINESS 

SHORTCUTS 

ARRANGED  BY  THE  BOARD  OF  EXPERTS 
OF  THE  BUSINESS  MAN'S  MAGAZINE  AND 
THE  BOOK-KEEPER,  DETROIT,  MICHIGAN 


SIFT 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

HENRY  RAND  HATFIELD 
MEMORIAL  COLLECTION 


PRESENTED  BY 

FRIENDS  IN  THE  ACCOUNTING 

PROFESSION 


THE    OFFICE    LIBRARY 

BUSINESS 
SHORT  CUTS 


Accounting  Advertising 

Book-keeping     Correspondence 
Card  Indexing  Management 


Compiled  by 

The  Board  of  Experts  of 

The  Book- Keeper  and 

Business  Man's 

Magazine 


PUBLISHED  BY 

The  Book- Keeper  Publishing  Co.,  Ltd. 

DETROIT,  MICH.,  U.  S.  A. 
1904 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress, 
in  the  year  1904,  by 

THE  BOOK-KEEPER  PUBLISHING  CO.,   LTD. 
DETROIT,   MICHIGAN 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress. 
All  rights  reserved. 


Thb  Book-Keefer  Press 

DETROIT,  MICH. 


HFS3S-C 
81 


DEDICATED 

TO  THE 

OFFICE  MEN  OF  AMERICA 

WITH   THE  HOPE  THAT 
THESE   LITTLE 

HINTS  AND  HELPS 

WILL  MAKE    IT 

EASIER 


— The  Board  of  Experts. 


M513286 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/businessshortcutOOdetrrich 


BUSINESS   SHORT  CUTS 


Rules  for  Locating  Errors  in  Trial  Balances. 

i.  Look  carefully  through  the  Trial  Balance  to  see 
if  a  balance  has  been  omitted,  or  has  been  entered  on  the 
wrong  side. 

2.  Do  not  look  through  your  postings  to  see  if  you 
can  find  the  amount  of  the  error  unposted,  unless  you 
think  you  are  familiar  with  such  an  amount.  The  re- 
quired difference  is  generally  made  up  of  two  or  more 
errors. 

3.  Divide  the  amount  of  the  difference  by  nine.  If 
it  is  so  divisible,  it  is  probably  a  transposition  or  a  slide; 
and  in  the  latter  case  the  posting  to  be  looked  for  can  be 
ascertained  by  the  following  process:  Amount  of  error, 
$43.56-^9=4.84-1-11=44.  Look  for  $44.00  posted  as  44 
cents.    This  error  is  called  a  "double  slide." 

4.  If  the  difference  is  $18.00,  look  for  $42.00  posted 
as  $24.00;  $31.00  posted  as  $13.00;  $35.00  posted  as  $53.00, 
etc. 

5.  If  the  difference  is  $27.00,  look  for  $47.00  posted 
as  $74.00;  $14.00  posted  as  $41.00,  $36.00  posted  as  $63, 
etc. 

6.  If  transpositions  do  not  apply,  look  through  the 
ledger  for  a  balance  omitted  from  the  trial  balance. 

7.  Look  for  an  account  closed  but  not  ruled  off,  so 
that  last  month's  balance  has  been  taken  again  this  month. 

8.  If  the  difference  is  an  even  number,  it  may  be 
a  debit  posted  as  a  credit,  or  a  credit  posted  as  a  debit. 

9.  If  the  difference  is  1  cent,  or  10  cents,  or  $1.00, 
the  error  is  almost  certain  to  be  in  addition  or  subtrac- 
tion in  drawing  off  the  balances. 

10.  Check  the  footings  of  the  trial  balance,  and  the 
carrying  of  the  totals  to  the  recapitulation  sheet. 

11.  Scan  the  folio  columns  of  all  books  of  original 
entry  to  see  if  any  posting  has  been  omitted. 


6  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

12.  See  that  you  have  not  forgotten  to  include  in 
the  trial  balance  the  balance  of  cash  account. 

13.  Look  for  some  small  account  ruled  off  during 
the  month  to  show  a  balance,  but  no  balance  brought 
down. 

14.  Carefully  check  over  your  sundry  accounts  re- 
ceivable, and  notes  receivable  accounts,  as  these  two 
accounts  are  prolific  sources  of  error. 

15.  If  all  these  efforts  to  locate  the  difference  are 
fruitless,  check  the  additions  of  the  ledger  accounts,  and 
the  drawing  off  of  the  balances. 

16.  Proceed  to  check  the  postings  as  follows:  On 
a  sheet  of  paper  take  off  from  the  ledger  the  credit  post- 
ings of  cash,  using  a  separate  column  for  each  week. 
Foot  the  columns,  ascertain  the  grand  total,  and  compare 
it  with  the  total  called  for  by  the  cash  book. 

17.  If  the  totals  do  not  agree,  compare  the  totab 
by  weeks  in  order  to  locate  the  difference. 

18.  If  the  totals  agree,  draw  off  the  debit  cash  post- 
ings in  like  manner. 

19.  Also  the  journal  debit  postings  and  credit  post- 
ings. 

20.  If  these  all  agree,  draw  off  the  postings  to  the 
ledger  from  the  sales  book,  and  compare  total  with  total 
of  sales  book. 

21.  It  is  supposed  that  the  cash  book  and  journal 
are  self-proving  so  far  as  footings  are  concerned,  but  if 
the  totals  of  postings  from  the  sales  book  and  the  total  of 
the  sales  book  footings  differ,  the  footings  must  be 
checked. 

22.  If  a  purchase  book,  or  any  other  auxiliary  record 
is  kept,  treat  it  in  the  same  manner. 

23.  During  the  above  checking  process  the  error,  or 
errors,  must  inevitably  be  located,  and  it  is  quicker  and 
surer  than  checking  individual  postings,  especially  if  the 
postings  are  "called  off"  to  the  book-keeper. 

24.  Also  the  error  may  be  located  in  the  cash  book, 
or  whichever  book  may  be  checked  first,  which  will  ob- 
viate the  labor  of  checking  anything  else. 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  7 

25.  The  above  method  of  detecting  errors  is  based 
on  the  supposition  that  the  book-keeper  keeps  his  ledger 
in  good  order,  and  distinguishes  his  postings  from  dif- 
ferent books.  If  the  book-keeper  is  a  careless  man,  no 
rules  are  any  good  to  him,  and  he  must  be  left  entirely 
to  his  own  devices. 

26.  In  drawing  off  the  above  analysis  of  the  ledger, 
check  each  amount  with  a  different  colored  pencil  for 
each  book  from  which  postings  are  made.  This  greatly 
facilitates  the  detection  of  errors,  and  enables  the  book- 
keeper to  keep  exact  track  of  what  he  is  doing. 

2j.  THE  PREVENTION  OF  ERRORS  is  more 
important  to  the  book-keeper  than  their  detection  when 
made.  The  following  rules  will  be  found  efficient  and 
satisfactory : 

28.  Divide  your  ledger  into  alphabetical,  or  terri- 
torial, sections,  as  may  be  most  convenient. 

29.  Have  your  cash  book  and  cross-entry  journal 
ruled  with  separate  columns  for  each  section. 

30.  Have  your  sales  book  ruled  with  separate  col- 
umns for  each  ledger  section. 

31.  In  taking  off  your  trial  balance  put  down  debits 
for  the  month  in  one  column,  credits  for  the  month  in 
another  column,  and  the  balances  in  a  third  column. 

32.  Foot  all  these  columns  and  get  separate  totals 
for  each  section  of  the  ledger. 

33.  We  will  suppose  that  the  ledger  is  divided  as 
follows:     City  (A-K),  County  (L-Z),  Creditors,  General. 

34.  Add  together  totals  of  cash  debit  column,  city; 
journal  credit  column,  city,  and  the  result  should  equal 
total  of  city  section  of  ledger  credits. 

35.  Add  together  sales  book  debits,  city;  journal 
debits,  city;  cash  book  credits,  city  (if  any),  and  the 
result  should  equal  total  of  city  section  of  ledger  debits. 

36.  The  other  sections  of  the  ledger  will  be  checked 
in  like  manner. 

37.  Thus  the  ledger  can  be  easily  proved  in  detail. 
An  error  can  be  at  once  located  in  the  particular  section 
in  which  it  occurs,  and  quickly  traced. 


8  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

38.  Make  a  check  mark  in  folio  column  against 
items  not  to  be  posted.  Where  the  lines  are  left  blank,  it 
frequently  happens  that  a  ledger  folio  is  placed  on  the 
wrong  line,  and  a  wrong  amount  consequently  posted. 

39.  If  a  difference  occurs,  the  dollars  and  cents  of 
which  when  added  together  make  18,  cut  off  the  cents, 
add  1  to  the  dollars  and  this  amount  will  generally  be 
found  to  be  posted  as  dollars  instead  of  cents,  and  vice 
versa. 

40.  If  a  sales  book  is  used  containing  a  credit  col- 
umn for  returns  and  allowances,  carefully  note  that  all 
credits  have  been  entered  in  the  proper  column. 

41.  Where  order  blanks  are  used  errors  are  very 
liable  to  occur  in  the  recapitulation  made  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  the  total  to  post  to  the  credit  of  sales  account. 

42.  Where  a  book-keeper  is  unable  to  induce  his 
employer  to  procure  for  him  columnar  cash  books,  jour- 
nals, and  sales  books,  I  would  recommend  him  to  employ 
the  Slip  System  of  Reverse  Posting,  as  by  this  means  he 
can  attain  the  same  end. 

43.  Let  him  prepare  a  sheet  of  paper  ruled  with 
columns  as  described  above  and  place  it  on  his  desk  at 
the  side  of  his  ledger. 

44.  When  he  posts  a  city  sales  debit  to  the  ledger 
he  will  then  also  post  the  amount  in  the  column  provided 
for  the  purpose  on  his  sheet  of  paper. 

45.  The  advantage  of  this  method  is  that  the  work 
can  be  proved  each  day  without  taking  off  the  balances 
from  the  ledger. 

46.  By  this  method,  at  the  end  of  the  month  the 
book-keeper  has  ONLY  ONE  DAY'S  WORK  TO 
PROVE  instead  of  the  work  for  the  whole  month. 

47.  The  trial  balance  can  therefore  be  obtained  be- 
fore leaving  the  office  on  the  last  day  of  the  month. 

A   FEW   RULES   FOR   LOCATING   ERRORS   ON    SPECIALLY 
RULED   ACCOUNT   BOOKS,   ETC. 

49.  On  columnar  cash  books  and  journals  look  for 
amounts  which  should  have  been  entered  in  special  non- 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  9 

posting  columns,  but  which  have  been  entered  in  a  ledger 
column  and  not  posted. 

50.  On  Safeguard  ledgers  look  for  balances  which 
have  been  transferred  without  a  journal  entry. 

51.  Where  ledgers  are  separated  into  sales,  pur- 
chase, and  general  ledgers,  look  for  sales  which  have 
been  posted  to  accounts  in  the  purchase  or  general  led- 
gers. 

52.  Where  the  Goldman  check  figure  is  used  look 
for  double  slides  as  described  in  Rule  3. 

53.  Also  look  for  transpositions  like  the  following. 
$425  posted  as  $524. 

54.  Last,  but  not  least.  Remember  that  a  little  care 
in  posting  will  balance  ten  nights'  work  put  in  to  find 
the  error. 


General  Rules  for  the  Detection  of  Transpositions 
of  Dollars  and  Cents. 

SOME  pointers  showing  how  to  find  if  an  error  is 
the  result  of  a  transposition  of  figures,  and  if  so  to 
determine  what  the  figures  are  which  have  been 
transposed. 

All  errors,  where  the  figures  when  added  together 
amount  to  9  or  nines,  may  be  a  transposition  of  figures 
and  unless  the  amount  is  as  above  stated,  then  we  may 
be  certain  it  is  not  a  transposition.  Take  the  sum  of 
$31.50.  The  3  and  1  and  5  equals  nine.  The  ques- 
tion therefore  is:  What  amount  posted  into  the  wrong 
columns  would  produce  this  error? 

Rule :  Divide  the  error  by  9,  and  the  quotient  is  the 
only  amount  that  could  produce  the  given  error  that  way. 

To  explain:  $31.50  divided  by  9  is  $3.50,  and  $35.00 
posted  as  $3.50  would  show  a  difference  of  just  $31.50, 
and  therefore  we  would  look  for  35  posted  into  the 
wrong  columns.  This  kind  of  an  error  is  quite  likely  to 
occur — generally,  however,  with  one  figure  instead  of 
three.     It   may   happen    in    footing   any   column    of    the 


10  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

ledger  or  any  of  the  books  posted  into  it,  or  even  in 
footing  the  trial  balance. 

Suppose,  for  instance,  that  the  ledger  footing  of 
debits  showed  $54.00  too  much,  5  and  4  are  9,  which 
shows  it  may  be  a  transposition. 

Now  for  the  figures  that  have  been  transposed: 
$54.00  divided  by  9  is  6,  and  as  the  ledger  has  too  much 
posted  to  it,  $6.00  has  been  posted  or  footed  as  $60.00. 

There  is  another  kind  of  transposition  where  both 
figures  have  been  transposed. 

For  instance,  take  this  same  error  of  $54.00  too  much 
again,  to  find  what  figures  being  both  transposed  will  pro- 
duce it. 

Rule:  Divide  the  error  by  9,  and  the  quotient  is 
equal  to  the  left  hand  figure,  less  the  right  hand  one. 

Now  $54.00  divided  by  9  equals  6,  therefore  71,  82 
or  93,  are  the  only  numbers  of  two  figures,  where  the 
left  hand  figure  exceeds  the  right  hand  one  by  6;  if  the 
error  ($54.00  over)  is  produced  by  both  figures  being 
transposed,  we  may  be  certain  it  is  one  of  the  above 
changed  from  17,  28  or  39;  but  if  the  ledger  footing,  in- 
stead of  being  too  much  had  been  found  to  be  too  small, 
then  the  greater  number  has  been  transposed  to  the 
smaller  one.  In  case  there  is  a  transposition  of  three 
figures,  then  the  middle  figure  of  the  error  will  always 
be  a  9,  and  the  two  outside  figures  will,  when  added  to- 
gether, always  amount  to  a  9.  Thus  125  transposed  is 
521,  the  difference  is  396,  and  that  is  the  apparent  error. 

Now  to  find  the  real  error,  pay  no  attention  to  the 
middle  figure,  but  place  the  first  and  last  figures  together 
thus:  36,  and  dividing  by  9,  we  have  4,  and  then  if  the 
error  is  an  excess,  or  too  large  we  know  that  the  true 
error,  or  the  real  figures  which  have  been  transposed, 
are  such  that  the  left  hand  figure  exceeds  the  right  hand 
one  by  4  and  must  be  51,  62,  73,  84  or  95,  but  the  quickest 
way  to  find  the  error  is  to  look  through  the  books  we 
have  posted  from  for  a  number  having  three  figures,  and 
the  left  hand  one  exceeds  the  right  one  by  4. 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  11 

TRANSPLACEMENT    OF    FIGURES. 

Rule  to  find  whether  an  error  is,  or  is  not  caused 
by  posting  dollars  into  the  cents  column,  and  if  so,  how 
to  find  the  dollars  that  have  been  posted  in  this  way. 

Rule— First.  All  of  the  figures  of  an  error  of  this 
nature,  when  added  together  will  make  a  9,  or  multiple 
of  9.  If  they  do  not  it  is  certain  it  cannot  be  an  error  of 
this  kind;  if  they  do,  it  is  almost  equally  certain  it  is. 

Example:  $71.00  posted  71  cents — error  $70.29, 
added  together  equals  18  which  is  a  multiple  of  9. 

Second — To  ascertain  the  amount  in  dollars  that  will 
make  the  error,  when  posted  (as  shown  in  the  example.) 
Take  the  cents  of  the  error  from  imaginary  ciphers,  and 
the  remainder  will  be  the  dollars  that  have  been  posted 
wrong. 

ILLUSTRATION. 
$71.00  posted  71   bents,  error  $70.29,   equals  18. 

Deduct    from    ciphers    00 

the  cents  of  the  error   70.29 

Therefore   $71 

has  been  posted  71  cents. 

$93.00   posted  93  cents,   error  $92.07,   equals  18. 

.00 
92.07 

$93. 
has  been  posted  as  93  cents. 

$81.00  posted  81  cents,  error  $80.19,  equals  18. 

.00 
80.19 

$81. 
has  been  posted  81  cents. 

$60.00  posted  60   cents,    error  $59.40,   equals   18. 

.00 
59.40 

$60. 
has   been   posted   60  cents. 


How  to  Detect  Transpositions. 

IT  is  somewhat  surprising  to  learn  that  a  list  can  be 
made  of  no  less  than  504  transpositions  of  two  and 
three  figures,  besides  possibilities  of  double  and  indi- 
rect transpositions  which  appear  to  be  almost  unlimited. 
It  is  comparatively  common  to  hear  of  cases  where 
$10  has  been  posted  as  10  cents   (this  is  a  transposition, 


12  BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 

$10.00  being  posted  as  00.10),  $1.18  as  $1.81,  or  59  cents 
as  95  cents,  but  few  of  us  have  ever  considered  the  possi- 
bility of  the  transformation  of  6453  into  3456. 

A  difference  divisible  by  9  infers  a  transposition. 
That  such  a  difference  does  not  necessarily  indicate  this 
class  of  error  may  be  illustrated  by  the  example  of  post- 
ing $10.90  as  $10,  being  an  omission  of  90c.  In  this  cas? 
the  book-keeper  would  probably  waste  considerable  time 
looking  for  $1  posted  as  10c,  $5.40  as  $4.50,  etc. 

This  indicates  that  in  some  cases  it  is  impossible  to 
distinguish  transpositions  from  omissions. 

The  rules  governing  the  detection  of  transpositions 
in  British  book-keeping  are  so  different  as  to  excite  inter- 
est in  the  student  of  mathematical  curiosities.  The 
"wonderful  figure  nine"  cuts  no  figure  in  the  business, 
substitutes  being  found  under  varying  conditions  in  tke 
figures   19,   11   and  30. 

The  examples  furnished  by  our  correspondent  follow: 


£■ 

s. 

d. 

14 

11 

0 

11 

14 

0 

2  17  0 

In  the  above  transposition  the  error  would  be  £2  17s. 

In  all  transpositions  of  pounds  and  shillings,  the 
addition  of  pounds  and  shillings  of  the  difference  is  19. 

The  above  is  2-1-17=19. 

To  find  error  reduce  to  shillings  £2  17=57  shillings. 
Divide  57  by  19  which  gives  3.  Look  for  an  item  of  which 
one  amount  is  three  higher  than  the  other. 

In  the  above  14  is  3  higher  than  11. 
s.         d. 

8  3 

3  8 

4  7 

In  the  above  transposition  the  error  would  be  4s.  7d. 

In  all  transpositions  of  shillings  and  pence,  the  addi- 
tion of  the  shillings  and  pence  of  the  difference  is  11. 

The  above  is  4-\~7=ii. 

To  find  error  reduce  to  pence  4s.  7d.=55  pence. 
Divide   55  by   11   which  gives  5.     Look  for  an  item  of 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  13 

which  one  amount  is  5  higher  than  the  other.    In  above  8 
is  5  higher  than  3. 

£.  s.  d. 

7  G  2 

2  6  7 

i  19  7 

In  the  above  the  pounds,  shillings  and  pence  are 
transposed. 

In  such  cases  the  addition  of  the  pounds,  shillings 
and  pence  of  the  difference  will  amount  to  30. 

The  above  thus  4+19-1-7=30. 

In  such  transposition  the  shillings  are  always  19. 

To  find  error  reduce  to  pence  4.  19.  7=1195  pence. 
Divide  by  239  which  gives  5.  Look  for  item  of  which  the 
pounds  or  pence  is  5  higher  than  other. 

In  above  7  is  5  higher  than  2. 


Labor  Saving  Method  for  Obtaining 
Trial  Balances. 

customers'  ledger. 

ENTER  only  page  number  and  amounts  in  the  trial 
balance,  and  instead  of  taking  totals  of  debits  and 
credits,  or  the  balance  of  each  account,  take  merely 
the  amounts  posted  during  the  month.  In  this  way 
dormant  accounts  are  ignored  and  the  actual  work  of  the 
month  is  proved.  The  trial  balance  in  this  way  will  show 
the  total  debits  and  credits  for  the  month,  and  will  be 
agreed  with  the  total  debits  and  credits  posted  to  the 
Customers'  ledger  controlling  account  carried  in  the 
general  ledger.  The  advantages  of  this  plan  may  be 
summarized  as  follows: 

1.  I  find  that  it  insures  accuracy,  as  very  little  add- 
ing or   subtracting   is   necessary. 

2.  I  find  that  it  saves  nearly  50  per  cent  of  time, 
as  all  accounts  not  active  during  the  month,  are  easily 
passed  over,  the  eyes  searching  merely  for  the  month 
in  the  date-column,  instead  of  comparing  debits  with 
credits,  therefore  more  resting  to  the  eyes. 


14  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

3.  Absolute  proof  that  proper  amount  of  debits  and 
credits  have  been  made. 

4.  It  proves  the  addition  of  special  columns  bearing 
any  relation  to  Customers'  ledger. 

5.  If  an  error  exists,  it  points  out  whether  debit  or 
credit  or  both  and  gives  you  the  exact  amount  of  such 
error  or  errors. 

6.  It  proves  that  the  proper  month  has  been  entered 
in  the  date  column  of  any  charge  or  credit. 


Lightning  Addition. 

A  RECENT  work  on  Higher  Arithmetic  says:  "In 
computing,  book-keepers  whose  business  leads  to 
rapid  addition,  omit  much  that  would  seem  neces- 
sary to  the  ordinary  student,  and  not  infrequently  add 
two  columns  at  once,  a  power  gained  only  by  practice  in 
their  profession."  It  is  undoubtedly  the  aim  of  every 
book-keeper  and  office  man  to  attain  a  high  rate  of  speed 
in  addition,  coupled  with  accuracy,  and  various  methods 
have  been  devised  to  facilitate  both  speed  and  accuracy. 
While  methods  for  effecting  accuracy  will  be  considered 
under  the  h£ad  of  "check  figure,"  etc.,  those  which  relate 
to  attaining  speed  in  addition  may  appropriately  be  con- 
sidered here. 

The  most  common  method  used  and  recommended 
by  experts  in  this  line  is  the  learning  of  combinations  of 
figures,  so  that  9+8+7,  for  instance,  will  be  read  as  24 
by  one  operation  of  the  mind.  Thus,  in  reading,  we  do 
not  say  O+N+E  equals  ONE;  neither  should  we  say 
9+8+7  equals  24. 

Numerous  tables  have  been  prepared  to  aid  the  stu- 
dent in  making  himself  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  vari- 
ous combinations  of  numbers,  and  in  Soule's  Philosophi- 
cal and  Practical  Mathematics  are  given  extensive  drill 
tables  which  should  be  found  of  great  assistance.  Drill 
tables  are  also  constructed  on  cards,  each  card  bearing  a 
combination  of  two  or  more  figures.  By  shuffling  and 
reshuffling    these    cards     the    drill    exercises     are     con- 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  15 

and  reshuffling  these  cards  the  drill  exercises  are  con- 
stantly varied,  which  is  certainly  an  advantage  eover 
printed  tables  where  the  relative  position  of  the  combina- 
tions never  changes. 

The  dropping  of  tens  is  also  frequently  used  by 
experts  who  keep  account  of  the  tens  dropped  in  a  column 
with  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand.  It  requires  considerable 
practice  to  become  efficient  with  this  device,  and  at  first 
the  frequent  miscalculation  of  the  number  of  tens  dropped 
will  be  apt  to  discourage  the  student.  Another  method  of 
dropping  tens  which  will  perhaps  be  better  for  beginners 
to  use  is  to  place  a  dot  against  the  figure  where  the  ten  is 
dropped,    Thus : 

4 
5. 
6 

Another  method  in  considerable  favor  is  the  group- 
ing of  figures  above  io  and  under  20.  By  this  method 
8-J-7  becomes  10+5.  While  this  particular  principle  does 
not  appear  to  be  entitled  to  much  credit  in  single  column 
addition,  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  usefulness  in  double  col- 
umn addition.  In  the  following  example  the  operator  adds 
both   columns  by  the   following  process: 

46 
83 
27 
84 
76 

266 

46+80+3+20+7+30+4+70+6 

which  he  reads:  46,  126,  129,  149,  156,  186,  190,  260,  266. 
Proficiency  in  this  method  will  soon  enable  the  stu- 
dent to  add  double  columns  without  separating  each  num- 
ber as  above  shown,  the  mental  process  becoming  practi- 
cally  instantaneous. 


16 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  17 

Labor  Saving  Method  of  Recording  Bank  Depos- 
its and  Check  Withdrawals. 

THIS  method  entirely  does  away  with  the  check  stub 
and  check  register,  and  the  book  may  be  described 
as  a  bank  cash  book. 

The  checks  are  handsomely  lithographed  showing 
the  trade-mark  and  firm  name,  also  containing  a  voucher 
record  which  must  be  properly  signed,  otherwise,  the 
bank  upon  which  check  is  drawn  will  not  accept  it. 
These  checks  are  printed  four  or  five  in  a  pad,  padded 
at  the  bottom — numbers  running  from  top  to  bottom, 
thus  rendering  it  very  easy  to  draw  checks  as  you  can 
draw  four  or  five  without  having  to  detach  them  each 
time. 

The  cash  book  is  ruled  in  order  to  show  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  various  accounts  of  the  checks  drawn, 
also  showing  any  deduction,  as  discount,  etc.,  and  the 
net  amount  of  check  together  with  check  number.  These 
numbers  are  put  in  from  time  to  time  using  a  numbering 
machine  in  order  to  have  same  uniform  and  clear  and 
distinct. 

As  soon  as  the  check  is  drawn,  the  entry  is  made 
in  the  cash  book  opposite  the  number  of  the  check,  and 
proper  distribution  of  the  amount  drawn  is  made.  Foot- 
ings are  always  made  when  cashier  has  drawn  the 
checks.  For  instance,  he  draws  fifty  checks  at  once:  the 
footings  will  be  made  at  the  end  of  the  fifty,  or  if  he 
draws  one  check,  the  new  footing  will  be  carried  down. 
The  total  footings  appears  in  red  ink  for  the  debits  and 
black  ink  for  the  credits  on  the  credit  side,  and  red  ink 
for  the  credits  and  black  ink  for  the  debits  on  the  debit 
side. 

Receipts  are  entered  as  soon  as  received; — the  total 
of  each  day  or  of  each  mail  being  carried  out  into  the 
deposit  column.  Deposit  is  made  daily  or  every  other 
day,  and  it  is  very  easy  to  check  these  against  the  bank 
book  at  the  end  of  the  month. 

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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  19 

show  the  different  accounts  credited  less  whatever  deduc- 
tions are  made  by  the  remitters.  The  difference  between 
the  amount  of  the  deposit  column  on  the  debit  side  and 
the  amount  of  the  check  column  on  the  credit  side, 
always  shows  the  bank  balance,  so  that  the  management, 
at  any  time,  can  look  into  the  cash  book  and  find  this 
balance  carried  out  at  the  side.  Also  just  what  remit- 
tances are  coming  in  and  what  checks  are  being  paid  and 
notice  how  the   amounts   are  distributed. 

At  the  end  of  the  month,  the  totals  of  the  different 
columns  are  posted  to  the  various  accounts  in  the  gen- 
eral ledger  without  making  journal  entry. 

This  sytem  is  now  taking  care  of  between  four  and 
five  hundred  checks  a  month  and  the  larger  the  business, 
the  more  time  is  savea  in  the  entries  and  convenience 
of  having  everything  in  the  one  book. 

In  case  accounts  are  kept  with  different  banks,  it 
would  be  a  very  simple  matter  to  enlarge  the  cash  book 
so  as  to  provide  columns  on  the  debit  and  credit  side  for 
the  deposit  items  sent  to  the  different  banks  and  to  take 
care  of  the  checks  as  'drawn,  and  showing  the  numbers. 
These  checks,  of  course,  can  be  the  same  with  the  excep- 
tion of  having  them  printed  on  different  colored  paper 
and  showing  the  name  of  the  different  banks. 

The  cash  book  we  are  describing,  contains  five  hun- 
dred pages,  size  14x17,  leaving  wide  binding  space. 


Method  Devised  for  Record  of  Instalment 
Collections. 

WHERE  instalments  are  to  be  collected  a  card 
is  made  out,  as  per  example,  giving  in  conveni- 
ent form  the  lease,  date,  number,  name,  address, 
deposit,  and  promised  weekly  payment,  also  in  pencil 
the  amount  of  merchandise  charged.  Payments  are  put 
down  by  the  collector  as  made  and  reported  each  day  to 
the  book-keeper.  It  frequently  happens  that  payments 
are  made  at  the  office,  and  for  convenience  of  finding 
the  card  in  the  collector's  bunch  a  hole  is  cut  in  the  side 


20 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  21 

in  a  certain  position  which  signifies  the  initial  of  the 
customer's  name,  both  side  edges  of  the  card  being  re- 
served for  these  alphabetical  indexes.  The  top  edge 
of  the  card  is  reserved  for  similar  cuts,  referring  to  the 
north,  south,  east  and  west  quarters  of  the  city,  the  bot- 
tom edge  cut  in  indicating  various  surrounding  towns. 
These  cuts  are  preferable  to  projecting  tabs,  for  the 
reason  that  such  tabs  would  break  off  in  the  collector's 
pocket. 


An  Up-to-Date  Cash  Book. 

THE  accompanying  illustration  of  cash  book  em- 
bodies several  features  which  seem  to  have  some 
degree  of  merit. 

As  in  the  customary  form  of  cash  book,  columns  are 
provided  for  the  accounts  requiring  frequent  entries. 
However,  in  the  form  shown,  accounts  receivable  is 
omitted  and  discount  on  sales  and  amount  received  are 
used  for  entering  payments  made  by  customers.  The 
net  amount  received  and  the  discount  allowed  for  any 
item  are  posted  separately  to  the  proper  account  in  the 
sales  ledger.  Whether  or  not  a  certain  customer  takes 
advantage  of  discounts  is  something  a  credit  man  often 
wishes  to  know.  The  information  can  be  gotten  directly 
from  the  personal  account  if  the  above  method  of  post- 
ing is  used.  As  much  as  possible,  ledger  accounts  should 
show  on  the  face  the  proper  relation  of  the  different 
transactions  involved.  A  system  which  does  not  provide 
for  this  lacks  an  essential  feature.  When  the  cash  book 
is  balanced  the  two  columns  mentioned  are  footed  and 
the  same  total  is  posted  to  the  credit  of  accounts  receiv- 
able in  the  main  ledger. 

On  the  credit  side  a  similar  plan  is  adopted  with 
accounts  payable.  The  net  amounts  paid  and  discounts 
allowed  are  posted  to  the  proper  accounts  in  the  purchase 
ledger.  When  the  voucher  system  is  used  the  method  is 
still  the  same.  The  details  of  any  item  may  be  secured 
from  the  voucher  register.    The  sum  of  the  two  footings 


22 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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is  posted  to  the  debit  of  accounts  payable,  or  vouchers 
payable  as  the  case  may  be. 

Accountants  generally  agree  that  the  bank  account 
should  be  closely  allied  to  the  cash  book,  and  various 
arrangements  have  been  suggested  from  time  to  time  by 
which  this  combination  might  be  made  advantageously. 
The  form  presented  herewith  seems  to  unite  the  two  very 
acceptably,  and  should  work  well  in  practice.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  money  columns  are  in  one  block,  the 
bank  account  occupying  the  middle  part.  This  is  made 
possible  by  placing  date  and  explanation  columns  on  the 
credit  side  to  the  extreme  right.  It  is  desirable  that  the 
bank  account  occupies  contiguous  columns  since  deposits 
and  withdrawals  are  compared  constantly  and  should 
not  be  too  widely  separated.  A  column  is  also  provided 
for  the  bank  balance  by  the  use  of  which  the  book-keeper 
has  before  him  at  all  times  the  exact  condition  of  the 
bank  account.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  explain  the  use 
of  the  three  columns.  The  amount  deposited  at  any  time 
must  always  agree  with  the  total  of  cash  received  since 
the  last  deposit,  less  any  discount  or  exchange.  Cash 
paid  out  is  extended  to  the  withdrawals  column,  the  bal- 
ance on  hand  appearing  in  the  proper  column.  The  bank 
account  is  practically  a  duplicate  of  the  work  on  the  stub 
of  the  check  book,  and  the  two  are  easily  compared. 
Errors  are  avoided  which  would  otherwise  be  hard  to 
discover.  Furthermore,  the  cash  items  on  both  sides  of 
the  cash  book  are  traced  very  readily  to  the  bank  account 
and  thus  an  intimate  relationship  between  the  two 
accounts  is  established. 

When  the  cash  book  is  balanced  the  amount  on  hand 
should  be  the  same  as  the  bank  balance  added  to  any 
cash  which  is  in  the  cash  drawer  at  that  time. 

In  carrying  out  these  suggestions,  the  work  of  the 
book-keeper  is  not  increased  to  any  great  extent,  while, 
at  the  same  time  he  has  at  a  moment's  notice  correct 
information  concerning  any  feature  of  the  cash  account. 


24 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT    CUTS  25 

Labor  Saving  Methods  of  Keeping  Instalment 
Accounts. 

HAVE  three  copies  made  of  the  lease,  making  pro- 
vision thereon  for  the  instalments,  date  of  pay- 
ments, and  balance  due. 

One  of  these  leases  would  go  to  the  customer,  one 
to  the  collector,  and  one  to  be  put  in  a  loose  leaf  binder 
as  the  office  record.  The  collector  c-  file  his  form  in  a 
chronological  index,  filing  it  ahead  to  the  day  when  col- 
lection should  be  made.  When  collection  is  made  he 
enters  the  amount  on  both  his  and  customer's  copy,  put- 
ting down  date  of  payment,  amount,  and  balance  due. 
It  might  be  well,  perhaps,  for  the  collector  to  note  on 
his  and  customer's  copy,  the  date  when  next  payment 
should  be  made.  On  collector's  return  to  the  office,  he 
turns  in  the  money  and  leases  upon  which  he  has  col- 
lected. Proper  record  is  made  in  cash-book  and  credits 
entered  on  the  office  lease  or  record.  When  payments 
are  completed,  the  office  lease  can  be  removed  from  the 
binder  and  filed  either  numerically  or  alphabetically,  or 
in  any  other  suitable  way.  If  two  kinds  of  filing  of 
collected  leases  would  be  desired,  the  collector's  lease 
could  be  filed  in  one  way  and  the  office  lease  in  another. 

Our  next  illustration  is  of  a  book  ruled  like  a  four 
inch  column  cash  book,  one  being  provided  for  the  busi- 
ness of  each  year. 

Two  or  more  pages  are  allowed  for  each  business 
day  in  the  year,  the  date  being  written  at  the  top  of 
the  page. 

When  a  lease  or  note  comes  into  the  office  an  entry 
is  made  for  each  payment  falling  due,  under  the  cor- 
responding date  in  this  tickler.  On  one  line  the  name 
and  address  of  purchaser,  amount  of  payment,  and  inter- 
est on  payment  are  entered.  These  payments  are  car- 
ried through  as  many  years  as  lease  runs.  A  tickler  for 
1906  is  now  in  use.  In  this  way  all  payments  falling  due 
are  always  listed.  Notices  are  sent  from  this  book,  which 
contains  all   information   regarding  each  payment,  with- 


36 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


out  reference  to  the  ledger.  In  this  business  collections 
are  made,  as  far  as  possible,  by  correspondence,  but  a 
collector  would  find  his  list  made  out  on  this  book. 

When  a  note  is  discounted  the  amount  is  carried  out 
in  the  third  column  of  this  book,  and  when  an  account 
is  canceled  or  paid  before  maturity  the  amount  is  car- 
ried into  the  fourth  column.  The  sum  of  the  footings  of 
the  two  last  columns,  taken  from  the  sum  of  the  two  first 
columns  gives  exact  sum  which  should  be  paid  into  the 
business  every  day. 


Labor  Saving   Method  for  Keeping  Accounts 
Receivable  in  an  Ice  Business. 

EACH  driver  delivering  ice  has  a  regular  route.  After 
the  season  is  fairly  opened,  so  that  he  knows  who 
are  to  be  his  regular  customers,  a   list  is  made  in 
the  order  in  which  he  calls  upon  them.     A  copy  of  this 
list  is  inserted  in  his  "slate,"  a  metal  frame  holding  the 


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lists  and  ruled  slips  on  which  he  enters  the  weights  of 
ice  delivered  to  each.  Upon  his  return  to  the  office  the 
weight  slips  are  taken  from  the  slate  and  blanks  inserted 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  27 

for  the  next  day.  The  book-keeper  takes  from  his  card 
ledger  the  group  of  cards  representing  the  route  and 
posts  the  several  weights  to  the  proper  cards  in  the  space 
provided  for  that  day.  On  these  cards,  as  will  be  seen 
by  the  printed  form  here  given,  there  is  one  space  for 
each  day  for  six  months.  The  month  columns  are  headed 
May  to  October,  a  period  which  covers  most  of  the  retail 
ice  sales.  For  those  customers  who  take  ice  during  the 
other  months  of  the  year  the  card  is  turned  over.  The 
other  side  is  the  same  as  this  except'  g  the  month  head- 
ings which  read  from  November  to  April.  At  the  end  of 
the  month  the  weights  are  footed,  and  the  value  of  the 
ice  delivered  is  entered  in  the  space  below  headed  "Dr." 
Then  monthly  charges  are  listed  and  the  total  charged  in 
the  journal  to  accounts  receivable.  When  collections 
on  these  accounts  come  in  they  are  entered  in  the  cash 
book  and  the  separate  credits  posted  to  these  ledger 
cards.  At  the  end  of  each  month  the  total  of  the  ac- 
counts receivable  column  in  the  cash  book  is  passed  to 
the  credit  of  the  accounts  receivable  account.  The  balance 
of  this  account  is  occasionally  verified  by  a  trial  balance 
of  the  card  ledger. 


Special  Form  for  Customers'  Ledger. 

BY  the  method  hereunder  described  a  central  column 
is   provided   which,    instead   of   recording   the   out- 
standing balances  of  an  account  at  any  particular 
period,  records  the  amount  of  debits  covered  by  various 
settlements  of  account. 

Let  us  consider  the  object  of  an  account  in  the  sales 
ledger;  its  needs,  and  the  best  way  to  attain  the  required 
results. 

As  the  ledger  is  not  an  original  book  of  entry,  but 
a  convenient  form  of  showing  each  customer's  indebted- 
ness, a  page  completed  should  not  so  much  show  the  total 
balance  outstanding,  as  each  particular  item  of  debit 
and  credit  still  open.  Therefore  any  arrangement  enabling 
us  to  ascertain  the  condition  of  an  account,  quicker  than 


28 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  29 

by  the  methods  in  common  use,  is  a  desirable  improve- 
ment. 

Many  of  the  card  systems,  now  used,  show  the  entire 
balance  due  each  month.  This  is  of  but  little  use,  as  very 
few  customers  settle  month  by  month;  the  majority  of 
payments  being  made  to  cover  one  bill  or  a  group  of 
bills. 

This  conceded,  it  would  seem  that  our  object  should 
be  to  devise  the  ledger  page,  so  as  to  show  at  a  glance 
the  actual  condition  of  an  account,  without  bothering 
with  amounts  already  canceled  by  previous  payments. 

The  aim  of  the  Central  Amount  Column  is,  to  avoid 
long  additions,  to  keep  the  records  in  compact  form  by 
grouping  the  credits  directly  opposite  to  the  debits  in- 
volved, and  to  balance  as  often  as  possible. 

The  idea  consists  of  adding  to  the  usual  rulings  of 
the  ledger,  a  central  amount  column  placed  between 
the  debits  and  credits,  and  of  dividing  the  credit  side  into 
three  columns,  viz.:  cash — discount — allowance  or  re- 
turns. 

Whenever  a  consecutive  number  of  debit  items,  be- 
ginning from  the  top,  are  balanced  by  amounts  in  the 
cash  discount  or  return  columns,  the  total  is  extended  in 
the  central  amount  column,  thus  balancing  the  account 
to  that  date. 

In  the  example  it  will  be  observed  that  the  first  group 
is  not  balanced  until  payment  of  January  15th.  The  first 
settlement  made  January  10th  only  equaled  the  third  and 
fourth  debits,  therefore  amount  could  not  be  extended  in 
central  amount  column  before  the  first  and  second  items 
were  paid. 

In  this  first  group  the  consecutive  debits  from  the 
top  amount  to  $1,567.93,  so  do  cash,  discount  and  re- 
turns, consequently  the  account  is  closed  to  that  total. 

As  the  above  example  stands,  the  customer  owes 
$843.27,  $926.05  and  $76.29,  viz.,  the  only  items  appear- 
ing below  the  cross  line. 

If  a  red  ink  line  is  drawn  under  each  amount  in  the 


30  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

central  amount  column,  you  are  able  to  see  at  a  glance 
how  the  account  stands;  any  figures  below  the  red  line 
are  open  and  those  above  closed.  The  time  required  to 
draw  the  red  lines,  is  more  than  made  up  by  not  having 
to  write  by  cash,  by  discount,  by  credit,  etc. 

As  each  payment  is  directly  opposite  to  the  items 
covered  by  it,  the  information  regarding  promptness  of 
settlement  is  apparent.  No  forwarding  necessary.  When 
a  page  is  completed,  keep  right  on  until  a  section  is  made. 

No  large  columns  to  add  in  making  your  trial  bal- 
ance, simply  the  figuring  of  live  items.  Another  feature 
is,  that  if  an  error  occurs  in  your  balance  you  are  almost 
certain  that  it  is  not  in  posting  from  the  cash  book,  as 
each  payment  has  equaled  the  corresponding  debits. 


Figuring  Percentages. 

THE  practice  of  figuring  percentages  of  indirect 
expense  on  gross  sales  is  very  often  quite  mis- 
leading. The  particular  point  is  that  the  profit  on 
some  kinds  of  goods  in  some  departments  of  a  business  is 
much  greater  than  the  profit  on  other  lines  in  other  de- 
partments. If,  therefore,  the  general  expense  is  based  on 
gross  sales  the  department  making  a  large  profit  has  to 
bear  a  much  larger  relative  proportion  of  indirect  expense 
than  the  department  making  a  less  profit,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  latter  department  may  actually  require 
more  supervision  and  attention  from  the  general  offices 
than  the  former. 

Percentages  should,  in  our  opinion,  be  based  on 
turnover.  We  have  illustrated  turnover  on  several  pre- 
vious occasions.  It  is  obtained  by  adding  inventory  at 
commencement  of  period  to  purchases  and  productive 
labor,  and  deducting  inventory  at  close  of  period.  The 
result  represents  the  cost  of  the  goods  sold. 

Percentages  based  on  amount  of  sales  must  neces- 
sarily be  variable,  depending  on  the  ratio  of  profit  added 
to  make  selling  price.  Percentages  on  cost  will  not  fluc- 
tuate with  the  fluctuations  of  profit,  and  will  therefore 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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32  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

be  much  more  reliable  and  absolutely  fair  under  all  con- 
ditions to  all  departments. 

One  of  the  advantages  of  basing  percentages  on 
turnover  is  that  by  this  method  any  general  reduction  of 
profit  as  compared  with  the  quantity  of  goods  sold  is  im- 
mediately detected  and  an  opportunity  afforded  to  intelli- 
gently trace  the  cause  of  difference. 


Efficient  System  for  Handling  Drafts. 

APPENDED  are  examples  of  letters  to  slow  cus- 
tomers on  whom  drafts  have  been  made,  and  illus- 
tration of  draft  register.  Draft  is  made  through 
bank  at  city  in  which  debtor  lives,  and  is  followed  up 
once  a  week  until  letter  No.  6  has  been  sent,  when  the 
account  is  placed  in  the  attorney's  hands  for  collection. 
When  the  draft  is  paid,  the  date  of  payment  is  en- 
tered in  the  date  column  provided  in  front  of  the  amount 
column. 

LETTER    NO.    1. 
Gentlemen:     Enclosed  please   find   statement  of  your   account,   which 

is  past  due.      We  are  making  draft   for  the   amount  through    

Bank.  Kindly  honor  same  when  presented,  as  we  have  instructed  the 
cashier  to  return  the  draft  to  us  if  not  paid  within  fi  e  days  after  the 
same  has  been  presented.  We  sincerely  hope  you  will  give  the  draft 
your   personal   attention  and  oblige. 

LETTER   NO.    2. 

Much  to  our  surprise,  we  have'  heard  nothing  from  our  draft, 
although  the  cashier  was  instructed  to  hold  the  same  not  longer  than 
five  days.  If  the  amount  is  not  correct,  according  to  your  books,  we 
should  be  pleased  to  know  just  where"  tfte  difference  is.  If  the 
amount  is  correct,  we  would  like  an  explanation  why  our  draft  is  not 
honored.  Thanking  you  for  giving  this  your  prompt  attention,  we 
remain. 

LETTER   NO.   2y2. 

(When  it  is  time  to  send  the  next  letter  after  the  first  one,  if 
draft  has  been  returned  unpaid — same  will  be  marked  "Ret."  on  draft 
sheet — send  letter  No.  2]/2  instead  of  2.  If  draft  has  not  been  returned, 
send  letter  No.   2.) 

Much   to    our  surprise,    our   draft   made   on   you    

has  been  returned  to  us  unpaid.  If  the  amount  is  not  correct  accord- 
ing to  your  books,  we  should  be  pleased  to  know  just  where  the 
difference  is.  If  the  amount  is  correct,  we  would  like  an  explanation 
why  our  draft  is  not  honored.  Thanking  you  for  giving  this  your  prompt 
attention,  we  remain. 

LETTER  NO  3. 

On  the  ....  inst.  we  wrote  you  with  reference  to  our  account, 
which  is  due.  Not  having  heard  from  you  with  reference  to  the  same, 
we  write  to  know  if  you  intend  paying  this  account.  Thanking  you 
for  a  prompt   reply,  wc  remain. 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 


33 


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34  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

LETTER  NO.   4. 

We  again  call  your  attention  to  our  account,  which  has  not  been 
paid.  You  surely  must  have  overlooked  this  matter,  and  we  ask  you 
to  kindly  send  us  a  check  for  the  amount  due  us  by  return  mail.  The 
profits  on  our  goods  are  not  large  enough  to  warrant  our  carrying 
this   account   any   longer. 

LETTER  NO.   5. 

Just  one  month  ago,  we  made  a  draft  upon  you  for  past  due  ac- 
count,— the  same  was  returned  to  us  unpaid.  We  have  written  you 
repeatedly  asking  you  to  send  us  the  amount  due  us,  and  you  have 
given  us  no  good  reason  why  this  account  has  not  been  paid.  We 
must  now  insist  upon  a  check  by  return  mail  for  the  amount  due  us. 

LETTER  NO.   6.    . 

We  have  been  very  patient  with  you  regarding  your  past  due 
account,  but  have  decided  to  place  the  same  in  our  attorney's  hands 
for  prompt  collection  unless  we  have  a  check  from  you  for  the  full 
amount   due  us   before   next   Saturday. 


Labor  Saving  Card  Ledger  System. 

THE  system  hereunder  described  is  that  used  by  a 
large  savings  bank,  but  the  principle  may  be  con- 
veniently adapted  to  the  requirements  of  any  busi- 
ness, where  the  number  of  customers'  accounts  is  very 
large  and  sectionalization  necessary  so  that  several  book- 
keepers may  be  employed  on  the  work. 

In  this  case  the  accounts  are  divided  into  sections 
of  10,000  accounts  each,  a  book-keeper  being  appointed 
to  each  section.  A  separate  tray  is  provided  for  each 
1,000  accounts  (see  illustration),  so  each  tray  really  con- 
stitutes a  separate  ledger,  each  book-keeper  controlling 
ten  ledgers.  The  illustration  of  the  book-keepers'  desks 
shows  in  the  foreground  a  section  containing  ten  trays  or 
sub-sections. 

The  cards  are  indexed  by  number  and  the  guide  cards 
are  made  with  large  projections  for  convenience  of  the 
book-keepers  in  quickly  securing  any  desired  card.  These 
large  projections  on  the  guide  cards  give  numbers  in  tens. 
The  small  projections  on  the  ledger  cards  give  units  from 
i  to  9;  thus,  to  find  account  493433  look  for  guide  49343 
and  following  card  3. 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  35 

Expense  Adjustments. 

MANY  book-keepers  have  on  their  books  charges  in 
respect  to  expenses  paid  in  advance,  and  there 
are  also  liabilities  not  entered  in  the  books  in 
respect  to  expenses  incurred  but  not  paid.  When  mak- 
ing a  balance  sheet  the  proper  method  is  to  establish  a 
reserve  account  for  liabilities,  and  a  suspense  or  adjust- 
ment account  for  advance  payments.  In  some  businesses 
these  two  accounts  are  amalgamated  under  the  heading 
of  "adjustment"  account,  the  balance  being  entered  on  the 
balance  sheet  as  a  liability  or  an  asset,  according  to 
circumstances.  Insurance,  taxes,  etc.,  are  usually  paid 
in  advance,  and  there  are  frequently  a  number  of  small 
expense  bills  for  which  it  is  not  considered  advisable 
to  open  accounts  but  which  are  nevertheless  actual  lia- 
bilities of  the  business. 

These  accounts  are  extinguished  when  the  regular 
charges  are  made  on  payment  of  bills,  while  reserves  on 
account  of  advance  payments  are  transferred  to  the  debit 
of  the  regular  accounts  by  journal  entry  in  reopening 
the  books. 

This  method  is  commonly  adopted  for  the  reason 
that  it  is  supposed  to  be  desirable  that  the  balance  sheet 
should  represent  assets  and  liabilities  actually  appearing 
on  the  ledger,  but  a  large  number  of  business  houses 
simply  make  the  adjustments  on  the  balance  sheet  itself 
and  do  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  creating  the  adjustment 
accounts  on  the  ledger. 


Rule  for  Finding  Real   Discount. 

THE  following  rule  will  enable  the  reader  to  com- 
pound any  two: 

From  the  apparent  total  of  two  trade  dis- 
counts subtract  i-ioo  part  of  their  product,  and  the 
remainder  will  be  the  real  discount  equivalent  to  the  two. 
Take  20  and  10.  The  apparent  total  discount  is  30, 
from  which  subtract  1-100  part  of  20  x  10  or  2.  The 
result  is  28. 


36  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

Again  take  28  and  5.  The  apparent  total  discount 
is  33,  from  which  take  1-100  part  of  28  x  5  or  1  2-5. 
The  result  is  31  3-5,  the  real  discount  before  shown.  A 
little  practice  will  enable  the  reader  to  compound  either 
mentally  or  by  pen  a  series  of  trade  discounts. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  compare  trade  discounts  at  a 
glance  to  see  which  is  the  more  advantageous.  In  the 
case  where  the  apparent  discounts  of  two  series  differ, 
I  believe  that  the  series  with  the  greater  apparent  dis- 
count will  have  the  greater  real  discount. 

In  the  case  with  the  apparent  discounts  of  two  series, 
the  same  as  10,  10  and  10  for  one  series,  and  20,  and  5 
and  5,  the  other  series,  it  will  be  found  that  the  more  the 
discounts  of  a  series  approach  equality,  the  less  the  real 
discount;  and  that  the  more  the  trade  discounts  are  con- 
centrated into  a  single  discount,  the  greater  the  real 
discount. 

From  what  we  have  said  it  will  follow  that  10,  10 
and  10  are  less  than  20,  5  and  5. 

There  may  be  cases  in  which  we  cannot  tell  at  a 
glance.  In  this  last  case  we  must  calculate  the  real  dis* 
counts  by  the  rule  given  above. 


A  Few  Pointers  About   Checks. 

BANK  checks  possess  many  advantages  for  the  con- 
duct of  business,  and  are  used  to  a  proportionately 
great  extent.  They  are  in  nature  but  orders  for 
the  payment  of  money,  and  are  payable  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  presented.  As  given  in  the  usual  course 
of  business,  they  do  not  constitute  payment  of  the  indebt- 
edness for  which  they  are  given  until  paid.  Nor  will 
the  concurrent  receipting  of  the  debts  for  which  they 
are  given  change  this.  If  they  are  not  paid  on  proper 
presentation,  resort  may  be  had  to  the  original  claims. 
The  rule  is  different  in  this  respect  as  to  certified  checks. 
So  the  having  of  checks  certified  constitutes  payment  as 
to  the  persons  drawing  them. 

Checks  should  be   dated.     If  not  dated  at  all,  and 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  37 

they  do  not  contain  any  statement  as  to  when  they  are 
to  be  paid,  they  are  never  payable.  They  may  be  ante 
or  post-dated,  as  well  as  dated  on  the  day  of  delivery. 
By  being  ante-dated  they  may  be  made  to  cover  prior 
transactions,  and  in  a  measure  determine  the  relative 
rights  of  the  parties  to  them,  provided  that  no  fraud  is 
intended  or  done.  Post-dating  in  the  main  determines 
the   date   of  payment. 

When  post-dated  so  as  to  fall  due  on  Sunday,  they 
are  payable  on  the  following  Monday.  Checks  post- 
dated or  maturing  on  legal  holidays  should  be  presented 
the  day  following.  When  post-dated  checks  are  paid 
before  the  dates  mentioned,  the  money  paid  on  them  can 
be  recovered.  If  blanks  are  left  for  the  date,  the  holders 
of  checks  are  thereby  authorized  to  insert  the  true  dates 
of  delivery,  but  no  other  dates,  and  if  they  insert  any 
other  date  it  makes  the  checks  void.  Changing  the  date 
of  checks  without  consent  of  the  drawers  will  do  the 
same. 

The  presumption  is  that  when  checks  are  drawn, 
funds  will  be  provided  at  the  banks  on  which  they  are 
drawn  to  meet  them,  but  presentation  for  payment  mus!; 
be  made  within  a  reasonable  time.  If  not  so  presented, 
the  holders  will  be  charged  with  any  consequent  loss. 
When  persons  receiving  checks  and  the  banks  on  which 
they  are  drawn  are  in  the  same  place,  they  should  be 
presented  the  same  day,  or,  at  the  latest,  the  day  after 
they  are  received.  Where  they  are  in  different  places, 
the  checks  must  be  mailed  to  some  bank  or  person  at 
the  place  where  payable  before  the  close  of  the  day  fol- 
lowing any  receipt,  and  the  latter  must  present  them 
before  the  close  of  the  banking  hours  on  the  day  follow- 
ing the  receipt  there;  no  extra  time  will  be  gained  by 
holders  depositing  checks  in  their  own  banks  for  collec- 
tion. 

After  duly  presenting  checks,  it  is  also  the  duty  of 
the  holder,  if  they  are  not  paid,  to  notify  the  drawers 
before  the  close   of  the  next  secular  day  following  the 


38  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

presentation  and  dishonor.  No  particular  form  of  no- 
tice is  required.  It  may  be  written  or  verbal.  The 
principal  case  in  which  losses  occur  from  failure  to  use 
due  diligence  in  the  collection  of  checks  is  where  the 
banks  on  which  they  are  drawn  fail  in  the  meantime. 
If  the  banks  continue  solvent,  the  drawers  will  remain 
liable  to  pay  their  checks  for  months  at  least  after  they 
are  drawn.  Presentation  and  notice  of  dishonor  will 
also  be  dispensed  with  where  there  are  no  funds  to  pay 
checks,  and  where  the  banks  on  which  they  are  drawn 
suspend  payment  before  they  can  be  presented,  using 
proper  diligence.  After  receiving  checks,  they  must  be 
presented  for  payment,  unless  such  presentation  would 
be  useless  before  the  original  claims  can  be  sued  on, 
for,  by  accepting  checks,  there  is  an  implied  agreement 
to  use  that  method  of  procuring  the  money  for  which 
they  are  drawn. 

When  checks  are  negotiable  and  pass  by  indorsement 
or  delivery,  the  same  degree  of  diligence  will  be  re- 
quired of  each  person  to  whom  they  are  indorsed,  in  or- 
der to  hold  those  indorsing  them,  as  is  required  of  orig- 
inal payees  to  hold  original  drawers  of  checks.  But  by 
putting  checks  in  circulation,  the  liability  of  the  drawers 
cannot  be  prolonged.  They  must  be  presented  within 
the  same  time  by  indorsees  as  by  payees. 


To  Ascertain  What  Amount  Invested  Will  With 

Interest  Added  Amount  to  a  Given  Sum 

in  a  Specified  Time. 

By  the  provisions  of  a  will  $17,032  was  bequeathed 
to  three  brothers,  to  be  so  divided  that,  being  invested 
at  5  per  cent  simple  interest,  the  three  should  receive 
equal  amounts  at  the  age  of  21  years.  What  sum  should 
the  executor  invest  in  each  case,  the  ages  being  respec- 
tively 12,  15  and  16  years?  F.  S.  Sims.       > 

Let  ALGEBRAIC   SOLUTION. 

X  equal  the  share  to  be  received  by  the  brother  aged 
12  years. 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  39 

Y  equal  the  share  to  be  received  by  the  brother  aged 

15  years. 

Z  equal  the  share  to  be  received  by  the  brother  aged 

16  years. 
Then 

X+Y+Z=i7,o32.  (1) 

Now  as  the  inheritance  of  "X"  is  to  be  invested  for 
nine  years  at  5  per  cent  per  annum,  it  will  earn  45  per 
cent  during  the  period  until  he  is  21  years  of  age,  and 
the  amount  he  will  receive  at  21  will  be  $i.4sX. 

Likewise  "Y,"  lacking  6  years  of  21,  will  receive 
when  of  age  $i.3oY;  and  "Z"  lacking  5  years  of  21  will 
receive  when  of  age,  $i.25Z.  But  as  they  are  each  to 
receive  equal  amounts  when  of  age,  we  may  construct 
the   following  equations: 

1.45X=1.30Y      (2) 
1.25Z=1.30Y      (3) 
Reducing   equation    (2)    we    get 

X     130Y     26Y 

145         29 
and    from    (3) 

Z     130Y     26Y 

125         25 

Substituting  these  values  of  X  and  Z  in  equation  (i) 

26Y  Y  26Y     17032 
29  25 

Multiplying  all  the  terms  of  the  equation  by  725  in  order 
to  eliminate  fractions. 

630Y+725Y+754Y=:12348200 
2129Y=12348200 
Y=5800 
As  X     26Y 

X=5200,  and  Z   will  be  6032. 

29 

ARITHMETICAL    SOLUTION. 

From  a  careful  consideration  of  the  problem  it  is 
evident  that  if  the  "present  worth"  of  one  dollar  can  be 
found,  for  the  time  existing  between  the  present  ages 
of  the  three  sons  and  when  they  should  each  arrive  at 
majority  or  21  years — it  would  be  the  basis  of  the  propo- 
sition into  which  the  inheritance  should  be  divided. 


40  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

Following  the  simple  rule  of  finding  the  "present 
worth"  and  indicating  the  division  by  fractions  instead 
of  carrying  the  figures  out  to  unsatisfactory  decimal 
places,  we  have  the  following  fractions,  representing  the 
proportion  into  which  the  inheritance  should  be  divided: 

100  100  100 

—     —     reducing    these 

145  130  125 

to  their  least  common  denominator  we 

1300  1450  1508 

have  —    —     now, 

1885  1885  1885 

as  fractions  having  a  common  denominator  are  to  each 
other  as  their  numerators  we  have  the  following  pro- 
portion, viz. :  650.  725.  754.,  these  added  together  makes 
2129 — which  represents  the  total  inheritance — 17,032 — 
and  each  son's  share  is  as  follows: 

G50 

12    years    of    age X17032=$5,200.00 

2129 
725 

15  years    of    age X17032=$5,800.00 

2129 
754 

16  years    of    age — X17032=$6,032.00 

2129 


$17,032.00 


Some  Arithmetical  Short  Cuts. 
I. 

The  complement  of  a  number  is  the  difference  be- 
tween it  and  the  unit  of  the  next  higher  order. 

98 2   (Complement)   Thus  the  complement  of  98  is  2; 

94 6  (Complement)   of  94  is  6;  of  987  is  13,  etc.    To 

multiply     these     two     numbers, 

9212  multiply  the  complements,  2  and 

6,  and  place  the  product  12,  in 
the  answer.  For  the  remaining 
two  figures,  subtract  across, 
either  the  2  from  the  94,  leav- 
ing 92,  or  the  6  from  98,  leav- 
ing 92. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  41 

2. 

Suppose  you  want  to  find  the  value  of  128  yards  at 

75  cents.     Now  to  find  the  value  of  any  number  of  yards 

of  cloth  at  75  cents  a  yard,  or  any  number  of  articles  at 

128     75   cents   each,    deduct   one-quarter    of   the   number 

32     from  itself  and  call  the  remainder  dollars.     At  one 

dollar  a  yard  the   answer  would  be  $128;   then  at 

$96  75  cents  it  must  be  three-quarters  of  this,  or  one- 
quarter  less.  At  873/2  cents  deduct  one-eighth.  At  66  2-3 
cents  deduct  one-third. 

3- 

To  multiply  numbers,  such  as  37  by  43.     Here  the 

mean   number — that    is,    the    number    which    is    as   much 

40      greater  than  37  as  it  is  less  than  43 — is  40.    Forty. 

40     squared,  or  multiplied  by  itself  gives   1600.     The 

square. of  3,  the  difference  between  the  mean  num- 

1600    ber  and  one  of  the  numbers  is  9.     1600 — 9,  1591, 

9     the  product  of  37  and  43.     Apply  this  rule  to  87 

by  73,  63  by  57,  22  by  18,  1009  by  991,  116  by  124. 

1 59 1     The  entire  work  should  be  done  mentally. 

4- 
If  you  wish  to  multiply  two  large  numbers,  each  of 
1235     which  is  a  little  over   1,000,  such  as   1,235  by 
1003     1,003,  multiply  the  excesses;  that  is,  235  by  3, 

carrying  the   product   705,   three   places   to   the 

1238705  right.  Then  add  the  numbers,  omitting  one  of 
the  ones  at  the  left.  Apply  this  rule  to  such  numbers  as 
1,312  by  1,003,  1,199  by  1,005,  etc- 

5- 

MULTIPLICATION    BY    SUBTRACTION. 

Instead  of  multiplying  by  9,  we  multiply  by  10  and 
subtract  the  number  from  this  product 

8435625X9=84356250 
8435625 


Product  =75920625 


to  multiply  by  99,  add  two  ciphers  and  subtract;  to  mul- 
tiply by  999,  add  three  ciphers  and  subtract,  etc. 


42  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


ADDING    FROM    RIGHT    TO    LEFT. 

8516 
7493 
2G58 
0390 


23847 
121 


25057 


Foot  the  first  column  to  the  left  and  place  the  total 
23  as  shown  in  example.  Foot  the  second  column  from 
the  left,  which  amounts  to  18.  Place  the  8  on  the  same 
line  as  23,  and  place  the  1  underneath  the  3.  Foot  the 
third  column  amounting  to  24,  place  the  4  on  the  same 
line  as  the  2,  3,  8— place  the  2  underneath  the  8.  Foot 
the  last  column  amounting  to  17 — place  the  7  on  the  first 
line  and  the  1  underneath  the  4.  Then  add  these  two 
lines,  which  will  give  you  the  total  footing. 

7- 
To  multiply  numbers  of  two  figures  each  where  the 
left  hand  figures  are  the  same  and  the  right  hand  figures 
add  to  10  (as  34x36).  To  obtain  the  product  multiply 
4  by  6  and  put  down  24,  carry  1  to  the  left  hand  mul- 
tiplier, multiplying  3  by  4  and  putting  down  12.  This 
rule  applies  to  the  following  numbers  of  two  figures  each, 
and  also  to  the  following  examples  of  three  figures  each: 


12 

13 

14 

15 

18 

17 

10 

15 

21 

•   22 

23 

24 

25 

29 

28 

27 

20 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

39 

38 

37 

30 

35 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

49 

48 

47 

40 

45 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

59 

58 

57 

56 

55 

01 

62 

03 

64 

05 

09 

68 

07 

00 

05 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

79 

78 

77 

70 

75 

BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  43 


81 

89 

82 
88 

83 
87 

84 
86 

85 
85 

91 

99 

92 

98 

93 

97 

96 

95 
95 

112 
118 

113 

117 

114 
116 

115 
115 

123 
127 

129 
121 

132 
138 

193 
197 

194 
196 

295 
2.95 

392 
398 

393 
397 

491 
499 

792 
798 

996 
994 

8. 
This  rule  also  applies  where  two  figures  of  one  prod- 
uct  are   the    same,   while   the   two   figures   of   the   other 
product  add  to  io  (as  33x37)  : 


22 

22 

22 

22 

22 

22 

73 

64 

55 

28 

82 

37 

__ 

22 

22 

22 

33 

33 

33 

91 

19 

46 

73 

37 

82 

44 

55 

66 

77 

88 

99 

91 

82 

73 

64 

46 

28 

9. 

The  rule  also  holds  good  where  the  addition  of  any 
two  of  the  numbers  equals  the  addition  of  the  other  two; 
or  where  the  addition  of  three  of  the  numbers  amounts 
to  the  same  as  the  fourth  number. 


13 
24 

13 
31 

14 
22 

28 
16 

17 
26 

24 
18 

48 

18 

22 
19 

21 

48 

21 

67 

22 
46 

23 
44 

23 
61 

24  • 
34 

39 
24 

24 
42 

26 
31 

36 
26 

48 
26 

46 
27 

69 
27 

42 
29 

63 
29 

84 
29 

31 

68 

31 
97 

32 
66 

32 

94 

48 
34 

34 

62 

36 
42 

68 
36 

64 
38 

96 
38 

93 
39 

41 
88 

42 

86 

43 

84 

46 
61 

86 
47 

63 

48 

84 

48 

82  93  96  12  88  62 


44  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

49  68  66  26  55  97 

10. 

This  rule  also  applies  to  numbers  of  three  figures 
each,  or  where  the  multiplicand  contains  three  figures  and 
the  multiplier  two.  It  also  holds  good  in  respect  to  some 
fractional  numbers. 


128 
94 

146 

77 

126 
86 

328 

88 

246 
49 

105 
143 

147 

124 

246 
127 

168 
181 

164 
283 

43 
121 

53 
151 

62 
242 

84 
143 

92 
186 

II. 
Another  rule  is,  where  the  left  hand  figures  add  to 
io  and  the  right  hand  figures  are  the  same,  in  which  case 
instead  of  carrying  i,  one  of  the  unit  numbers  is  added 
to  the  product  of  the  left  hand  figures  (as  6  multiplied  by 
6  equals  36;  8  multiplied  by  2  plus  6  equals  22)  2236. 


26 
86 

25 

85 

24 

84 

23 

83 

22 

82 

21 

81 

27 

87 

28 
88 

29 
89 

31 
71 

32 

72 

33 
73 

34 
74 

35 
75 

36 
76 

37 

77 

38 

78 

39 
79 

41 
61 

42 
62 

43 
63 

44 
64 

45 
65 

46 
66 

47 
67 

48 
68 

49 
69 

51 
51 

52 
52 

53 
53 

54 
54 

55 
55 

56 
56 

57 
57 

58 

58 

59 
59 

12. 

In  the  following  examples  the  rule  is  modified,  as 
double  the  unit  figure  should  be  added.  When  the  sum 
of  the  tens  is  20  three  times  the  number  should  be  added; 
when  the  sum  of  tens  is  30,  three  times  the  unit  number 
should  be  added. 


33 

134 

135 

136 

137 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

143  144  145  146 


BUSINESS   SHORT    CUTS  45 

62  63  64  65  68 


151 
51 

153 
53 

154 
54 

157 
57 

159 
59 

162 

48 

163 
43 

165 

45 

167 

47 

161 
41 

183 
23 

184 
24 

185 
25 

186 
26 

188 
28 



' — ' — 

' 

~ "" 

Sectionalization  and  Controlling  Accounts. 

SOME  book-keepers  in  these  progressive  days  desire 
whenever  possible,  to  have  a  record  of  stock  of 
goods,  or  products,  in  such  a  shape  that  they  may 
at  any  time  be  able  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  inventory 
on  hand.  Numerous  methods  have  been  devised  with  this 
object  in  view,  based  on  the  keeping  of  stock  books,  or 
stock  records,  wherein  all  goods  received  are  debited  to 
the  respective  accounts  to  which  they  belong,  and  all 
goods  sold  credited  at  cost,  the  difference  being  supposed 
to  be  the  value  of  the  stock  on  hand.  It  must  be  perfectly 
clear  to  everyone  that  these  stock  records  could  be  most 
accurately  kept,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  someone  might 
be  stealing  a  part  of  that  stock  every  day,  and  the  theft 
would  not  be  discovered  (except  accidentally)  until  the 
actual  inventory  was  taken,  and  the  result  of  such  inven- 
tories compared  with  the  amounts  called  for  by  the  stock 
record.  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  nobody  ever  thinks 
of  taking  inventory  every  day,  or  every  week,  or  (with 
few  exceptions)  every  month.  As  a  rule,  inventory  is 
not  taken  oftener  than  once  every  three  months.  It  is 
taken  far  more  frequently  once  every  six  months,  and 
usually  once  a  year.  In  the  same  way,  if  the  totals  of 
the  ledgers  can  be  proved  and  the  work  of  the  book- 
keeper shown  to  be  accurate  so  far  as  figures  are  con- 
cerned, there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  the  book- 
keeper should  be  called  upon  each  month  to  draw  off  all 
the  individual  balances,  or,  in  other  words,  take  inven- 
tory of  his  accounts  receivable  in  order  to  prove  in  that 
way  that  his  work  is  correct.  In  a  bank  it  is  particularly 
necessary  to  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  debits  and  credits 


46 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  47 

to  the  customers'  accounts  each  day,  because  if  a  posting 
is  omitted  it  is  quite  possible  the  bank  will  suffer  serious 
loss  the  next  day.  This  does  not  apply  to  the  general  run 
of  commercial  businesses,  but  no  system  can  be  claimed 
to  be  exactly  suitable  to  the  requirements  of  every  com- 
mercial enterprise,  and  the  method  we  here  advocate  is 
only  expected  to  be  used  where  the  circumstances  are 
favorable.  When  a  book-keeper  posts  a  credit  to  the 
wrong  account,  and  sends  his  statement  showing  a  cor- 
respondingly larger  debit  balance  to  the  customer  who 
sent  the  check,  it  does  not  usually  take  that  customer 
long  to  notify  the  house  of  the  error,  and  the  only  method 
of  preventing  such  errors  is  by  checking  back  the  post- 
ings, which  we  believe  is  only  done  in  very  exceptional 
cases. 

If,  therefore,  we  know  that  the  totals  of  the  individual 
balances  in  the  City  sales  ledger,  for  instance,  amount 
to  a  certain  sum,  why  should  the  book-keeper  be  called 
upon  to  take  inventory  of  his  accounts  each  month  in 
order  to  verify  that  sum?  This  is  particularly  true  where 
the  duties  of  the  book-keeper  and  cashier  are  separate, 
as  in  this  case  there  can  be  no  temptation  for  the  book- 
keeper to  tamper  with  the  accounts  receivable. 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  method  we  suggest  it  is 
necessary  to  have  separate  ledgers  for  the  separate  classes 
of  accounts,  or  to  keep  the  separate  classes  of  accounts 
in  different  sections  of  the  ledger.  The  more  the  accounts 
are  sectionalized  the  easier  it  is  to  prove  them  and  to 
obtain  a  trial  balance. 

In  the  illustration  headed  "cash  received"  it  will 
be  noted  that  the  ledgers  are  divided  into  four  sections, 
each  section  to  be  proved  separately.  The  sections  are 
Country  sales  ledger,  City  sales  ledger,  Purchase  led- 
ger, general  ledger.  In  the  general  ledger  will  be 
opened  a  controlling  account  with  each  of  the  other  led- 
gers as  per  illustration  headed  "city  sales  ledger,"  which 
represents  the  account  in  the  general  ledger  with  the 
City  sales  ledger,  and  the  balance  shown  of  this  account 
represents  the  total  of  the  individual  balances  contained 


48  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

in  the  City  sales  ledger.  This  account  is  opened  by 
charging  it  with  the  total  of  the  individual  balances 
drawn  off  from  the  City  sales  ledger,  or  the  city  sales 
section,  on  December  31st.  A  separate  column  for  this 
ledger,  or  section  of  ledger,  is  then  provided  in  every 
book  from  which  postings  are  made  to  that  ledger.  At 
the  end  of  the  month  the  totals  of  these  columns  in  the 
books  from  which  postings  are  made  are  posted  to  the 
debit  or  credit  of  this  account,  as  shown  on  illustration 
headed  "city  sales  ledger." 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  illustration  the  books  of 
original  entry  are  shown  to  be  only  cash  and  journal. 
It  is  supposed  for  the  sake  of  this  illustration  that  the 
total  of  the  sales  is  carried  through  the  cross-entry  jour- 
nal. 

The  total  amount  of  sales  and  journal  entries  charged 
to  this  account  will  be  found  to  be  accurate  if  they  agree 
with  the  total  amounts  shown  on  the  monthly  recapitula- 
tion sheet.  Thus,  the  City  sales  ledger  columns  on  the 
monthly  recapitulation  sheet  will  show  on  the  journal 
debit  side  $27,535.60,  which  is  the  amount  of  the  ledger 
postings.  You  thus  have  the  same  amount  ($27,535.60) 
coming  from  the  ledger  as  being  posted,  and  coming  from 
the  journal  and  sales  book  as  having  been  entered  there, 
which  is  a  complete  check  on  the  accuracy  of  the  posting. 
In  like  manner  the  cash  charged  to  this  account  is  com- 
pared in  the  same  way  with  the  total  of  the  cash  debit 
column  for  the  City  sales  ledger  on  the  monthly  recapit- 
ulation sheet.  The  credits  to  City  sales  ledger  account 
are  agreed  in  the  same  way,  and  the  outstanding  individ- 
ual balances,  amounting  to  $28,288.85,  are  then  incor- 
porated in  one  amount  in  the  trial  balance,  which  is  made 
up  entirely  from  the  few  accounts  kept  in  the  general 
ledger,  and  which  trial  balance  can  as  a  rule  be  easily 
completed  in  less  than  one  hour,  especially  if  this  system 
of  check  is  also  applied  to  the  postings  to  that  book.  " 

When  the  time  comes  to  take  inventory  of  these  indi- 
vidual balances  in  the  different  ledgers,  the  safest  plan 
(and  frequently  the  quickest  in  the  end),  is  to  draw  off 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  49 

total  debits,  total  credits  for  the  period,  as  well  as  the 
balances.  If  a  difference  should  be  found  this  method 
will  enable  the  book-keeper  to  locate  the  error  on  either 
the  debit-  or  credit  side  of  the  ledger  in  which  it  occurred, 
which  will  be  found  a  great  saving  of  time. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  debit  intended  for  a  cus- 
tomer in  the  Country  sales  ledger  is  charged  to  a  customer 
in  the  City  sales  ledger.  This  mistake  is  traced  not  only 
by  the  total  debits  and  credits  compared  with  the  totals  of 
the  sales  ledger  accounts,  but  will  also  be  located  by  the 
monthly  recapitulation  sheet,  and  this  method  thus  to  a 
certain  extent  will  check  posting  of  amounts  to  a  wrong 
account. 

If  one's  employers,  or  the  officers  of  the  company  by 
whom  the  book-keeper  is  employed,  object  to  a  trial  bal- 
ance being  taken  off  at  any  other  interval  than  once  a 
month,  this  advantage  still  remains — that  a  correct  finan- 
cial statement  can  be  furnished  on  the  first  of  the  month 
and  the  individual  balances  drawn  off  at  leisure  from 
the  ledgers  for  comparison  with  the  total  balances  shown 
on  the  individual  ledger  accounts  carried  in  the  general 
ledger. 


The  Reverse  Posting  System. 

THE  question  of  obtaining  a  daily  check  on  the  work 
of  the  book-keeper  is  a  subject  of  constant  thought 
to  him.  We  have  scarcely  ever  found  one  who 
did  not  desire  to  find  some  practical  way  by  which  he 
might  rid  himself  of  constant  suspense  as  to  the  accuracy 
of  his  work  and  how  his  trial  balance  is  going  to  com: 
out.  Numerous  suggestions  have  been  made,  and  many 
methods  have  been  tried  with  this  end  in  view,  such  as, 
for  instance,  the  check  figures  9,  II,  13,  19,  101,  etc.,  etc. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  some  book-keepers  can  use  the 
check  figure  with  such  facility  that  it  makes  no  appreci- 
able difference  in  the  amount  of  work  they  are  able  to 
perform  in  the  course  of  a  day.  At  the  same  time  it  has 
been  amply  demonstrated  that  no  check  figure  is  infallible, 


50  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

and  there  are  a  number  of  transpositions  which  they  will 
not  detect. 

There  is  also  a  very  laborious  method  of  providing 
special  columns  in  the  ledger  for  drawing  off  daily  bal- 
ances of  accounts.  These  daily  balances  are  supposed  to 
fulfill  the  two-fold  purpose  of  allowing  the  principal,  or 
credit  man,  to  find  the  balance  of  an  account  at  any  time 
without  computation,  and  to  facilitate  the  drawing  off  of 
a  trial  balance  by  the  book-keeper  at  any  moment  when 
he  may  be  required,  or  think  it  desirable  to  do  so.  The 
number  of  publications  which  have  been  offered  to  book- 
keepers on  this  subject  is  legion,  but  most  of  them  are 
founded  on  certain  well-known  lines,  and  in  fact  it  must 
be  apparent  to  all  that  there  is  no  royal  road  to  obtain 
a  trial  balance. 


Dn 

Cd 

s^a  Ooon  D— 

—  o-j^V*- 

AirvourCte 

Amourtfo 

Amounfe 

Arriourtte 

Amoun1S> 

<S>n~nlo.p»  .slips*  febeu*ed  foi=  debit  «and  cpedi+" 
sides  of  evepy  boots  frorr\  xvhi<=h  po^TihQfi  oi=>e  made 

It  is  quite  possible  that  a  large  number  of  the  readers 
of  this  article  may  have  been  long  acquainted  with  the 
majority  of  the  systems  referred  to,  but  the  object  of  this 
work  is  to  explain  what  the  authors  consider  to  be  the 
most  efficient  and  practical  method  of  obtaining  a  daily 
check  on  book-keeping  work,  and  getting  a  trial  balance 
without  drawing  off  the  individual  balances.  It  is  true 
the  method  here  recommended  involves  a  certain  amount 
of  extra  labor,  but  it  is  absolutely  efficient  if  ordinary 
care  is  taken  by  the  book-keeper. 

We  first  call  your  attention  to  the  illustration  here 
following,  headed  "Cash  Book." 

You  will  notice  that  this  illustration  is  also  marked 
"Reverse  Posting  System."    A  slip  similar  to  this  should 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS        -  51 

be  provided  not  only  for  the  debit  and  credit  sales  of 
every  book  from  which  postings  are  made,  but  also  for 
the  debit  and  credit  postings  to  each  ledger  used;  thus, 
if  the  customers'  ledgers  are  sectionalized,  being  divided, 
say,  into  Country  sales  ledger  and  City  sales  ledger, 
there  should  be  a  separate  slip  provided  for  both  debit 
and  credit  sides  of  the  Country  sales  ledger  and  the  debit 
and  credit  sides  of  the  City  sales  ledger. 

The  book  from  which  postings  are  made  should, 
whenever  possible,  be  placed  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the 
ledger,  and  the  slip  should  be  placed  on  the  right-hand 
side  of  the  ledger.  The  reason  is  this :  After  the  amount 
has  been  posted  from  the  original  entry  to  the  ledger, 
and  entered  on  the  slip,  the  eye  travels  back  to  the  book 
from  which  the  posting  has  been  made.  It,  therefore, 
necessarily  crosses  the  posting  in  the  ledger,  so  that  the 
book-keeper  can  note  automatically  that  the  amount  on 
the  slip  is  the  same  as  the  amount  in  the  ledger. 

After  the  postings  from  any  book  of  original  entry 
have  been  completed,  the  amounts  entered  on  the  slip 
should  be  footed  and  compared  with  the  total  of  the 
amount  shown  in  the  book  of  original  entry  as  having 
been  posted.  If  the  two  totals  agree,  you  will  know  that 
the  work  so  far  as  the  figures  are  concerned  is  accurate, 
and  that  the  books  are  in  balance.  The  instructions 
above  given  pre-suppose  that  the  sales  for  the  different 
ledgers  are  kept  separate,  either  by  using  separate  books 
or  separate  columns,  as  otherwise  the  check  cannot  be 
so  easily  applied. 

This  system  will  not,  of  course,  prevent  the  book- 
keeper from  posting  an  amount  to  the  wrong  account, 
nor  do  we  know  of  any  practical  system  which  could  be 
devised  for  that  purpose. 

At  the  end  of  the  month  the  totals  of  the  various 
slips  should  be  carried  to  the  monthly  recapitulation  sheet 
as  per  illustration  shown  on  page  50  and  the 
totals  of  the  columns  on  this  monthly  recapitulation 
sheet  should  equal  the  totals  of  the  books  of  orig- 
inal   entry   which    they    represent,   thus     completing    the 


52  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

check  on  the  month's  work.  Thus  the  book-keeper  using 
this  method  will  be  enabled  to  check  his  work  day  by  day 
as  he  goes  along,  and  at  the  end  of  the  month,  instead 
of  having  a  month's  work  to  check,  he  only  has  one  day's 
work  to  check,  and  this  will  be  checked  during  the  day 
as  he  works  from  the  different  books  of  original  entry. 

Note. — If  the  book-keeper  has  a  Beach  calculating 
machine  he  will  find  it  a  great  advantage  to  use  instead 
of  the  slips,  as  he  will  thus  be  saved  the  labor  of  adding 
the  totals,  the  machine  accomplishing  this  automatically. 

This  system  is  also  much  used  in  banks  as  per  the 
following  description: 

A  proving  paper  is  used,  simply  being  a  sheet  with 
four  columns  on  it  arranged  for  recording  from  right  side 
to  the  left  the  credits,  the  debits,  the  present  balances  and 
the  former  balances.  Of  convenient  size  for  ready  handl- 
ing, this  sheet  is  laid,  on  the  ledger  just  where  you  are 
posting,  and  as  soon  as  you  have  made  the  entries  on  the 
ledger,  the  requisite  figures  are  speedily  copied  on  it  from 
the  ledger,  the  whole  force  of  the  proof  consisting  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  a  duplicate  of  what  appears  on  the  led- 
ger. If  an  error  has  been  made  on  the  ledger,  by  care- 
lessly substracting  a  deposit,  or  adding  a  withdrawal, 
or  a  mistake  in  addition  or  subtraction,  the  actual  figures 
appearing  on  the  ledger  are  copied  down  on  the  proof 
paper  and  it  will  be  wrong  also,  and  the  existence  of  a 
mistake  in  the  work,  and  the  amount  of  it  too,  will  be 
noted  as  soon  as  the  four  columns  on  the  proof  paper  are 
footed  up  and  a  balance  struck. 

The  balance  between  credits  and  debits  should  be  the 
same  as  between  present  balances  and  former  balances, 
and  on  the  same  side  of  the  sheet;  and  if  it  is  not,  then 
there  is  an  error  in  the  work,  and  you  are  immediately 
notified  of  it  (by  reason  of  the  discrepancy)  and  can 
proceed  at  once  to  locate  and  correct  it.  If  these  two 
balances  are  the  same,  you  know  that  your  work  has  been 
done  correctly,  and  you  need  not  turn  again  to  your  ac- 
counts to  assure  yourself  of  that  fact. 

By  analyzing  this  proof  a  little  closer  it  shows: 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


53 


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54  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

The  total  of  column  number  one  on  the  right  equals 
the  total  of  the  deposits  of  the  day;  and  the  total  of  col- 
umn number  two  equals  the  total  of  the  withdrawals  of 
the  day;  so  we  are  assured  that  we  have  posted  all  of  the 
day's  transactions  on  the  ledgers.  (For  convenience,  and 
so  that  several  book-keepers  may  be  at  work  at  the  same 
time,  we  divide  the  work  into  sections,  corresponding 
with  the  ledger;  and  each  section  can  be  dealt  with  by 
itself,  but  the  principle  remains  the  same.)  From  the 
proof  obtained  from  columns  three  and  four  we  are  as- 
sured that  we  have  increased  or  decreased  our  balances 
on  the  ledger,  as  the  case  may  be,  correctly. 

Suppose  we  are  posting  from  a  journal,  a  sales  book, 
and  a  cash  book. 

Our  Purchase  Book  footing  is   $1,579  75 

Our  Journal    Book   footing   is . 7,031  31 

Our  Sales  Book  footing  is   1,203  05 

Our    Cash    Receipts    9,539  47 

Our   Cash    Expenditures    3,154  24 

Amount  of  Accounts  closed 2,694  64 

Our  trial  balance,  with  items,  as  here  shown,  is  out 
$43,56.                              TRIAL   BALANCE. 

Cash      $14,061  58       $  3,lo4  24 

Proprietors    11,271  64 

Expense     425  00 

Mdse 3,888  55           3,797  55 

Bills  Receivable    225  00 

Heustis     294  25 

Haywood     62  50 

Taylor    44 

White     452   05                 79  75 

Leach     219  00 

Foskett    13125 

Hall      1,500  00 

$19,759  62        $19,803  18 

To  find  on  which  side  of  the  trial  balance  this  error 
is,  or  what  part  of  it  is  on  each  side,  we  proceed  as  fol- 
lows: 

Add    together    footing    of    previous    Trial    Bal- 
ance      $00,000  00  $00,000  00 

Journal    footing     7,031  31  7,031   31 

Purchase   Book    1,579  75  1,579  75 

Sales    Book    1,203  05  1,203  05 

Cash    Receipts   and   Expenditures    9,539  47  3,154   24 

Items  posted  from  Cash  Book 3,154  24  9,539  47 

$22,507  82  $22,507   82 

Deduct   amount    of   closed    accounts .$  2,704  64  $  2,704  64 

The   correct    footing   of   the   Trial    Balance 

should  be   $19,803  18  $19,803  18 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  55 

We  find,  therefore,  that  the  credit  side  of  our  trial 
balance  is  correct,  and  that  the  error  is  $43.56,  and  this 
is  the  difference  between  our  footing  of  the  debit  side  of 
the  trial  balance  and  our  footing  of  the  proof.  The  most 
likely  way  in  which  this  error  could  occur  is  either  a 
transposition  of  figures,  or  the  posting  of  dollars  for  cents. 

If  the  error  is  one  of  dollars  posted  as  cents,  then 
the  dollars  and  cents  of  the  error  added  together  will  be 
99.  To  locate  the  error,  omit  the  cents,  add  1  to  the  dol- 
lars, and  the  sum  will  be  found  posted  as  cents  when  it 
should  be  dollars,  or  vice  versa.  Glancing  over  our  trial 
balance,  we  find  that  we  have  a  debit  of  44  cents  against 
Taylor,  and  referring  to  his  account  in  the  ledger  we  find 
that  the  debit  should  be  $44.  The  difference  between  $44 
and  .44  is  $43.56,  or  our  error. 


Labor  Saving   Method  for  Sundry  Accounts. 

THE  form  illustrated  (p.  56)  is  a  combination  invoice, 
collection  record,  and  petty  ledger.  The  blank  at 
the  right  of  the  perforation  is  the  invoice  which  is 
made  in  duplicate.  The  original  goes  to  the  customer, 
and  the  duplicate  constitutes  the  petty  ledger,  being  filed 
in  alphabetical  order. 

The  blank  at  the  left  of  the  perforation  is  used  as  the 
collection  record,  containing  date  of  sale,  name  and  ad- 
dress of  customer,  and  date  when  collection  should  be 
made. 


General  Ledger. 

THE  accounts  with  customers  being  eliminated,  it 
is  an  easy  thing  to  take  a  trial  balance  from  the 
general  ledger.  Take  footings  of  both  debits  and 
credits  of  all  accounts  whether  they  balance  or  not, 
entering  the  amounts  in  the  trial  balance.  The  totals  of 
the  trial  balance  will  then  equal  the  amount  of  the  previa 
ous  trial  balance  plus  amounts  posted  during  the  month, 
and  to  verify  the  accuracy  of  these  totals  add  to  the  pre- 
vious totals  the  amounts  posted  during  the  month,  taking 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  57 

the  footings  from  the  various  books  from  which  postings 
have  been  made,  as  the  following  form  will  illustrate  (no 
account  with  casFrteing  kept  in  the  ledger),  viz.: 

Dr.  Cr. 

Footings   of  trial  balance    May  31 $100,000  00 

$100,000  00 
Deduct   cash   on    hand    May   31 500  00 

Actual     ledger     totals $  99,500  00       $100,000  00 

Journal     postings     for     June 40,000  00 

40,000  00 

Cash     Book    postings     for    June 25,000  00         25,500   00 

Balance    cash    on    hand 1,000  00 

New   footings    of   trial   balance   June   30 $105,500  00       $165,500  00 

When  entering  footings  from  cash  book,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  these  items  in  detail  have  been 
posted  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  ledger  and  the  totals 
should  therefore  so  appear  in  the  proof  form. 


A  Simple  Interest  Formula. 

INTEREST  may  be  very  easily  understood  and  com- 
puted by  what  might  hz  called  the  Rational  Method. 
The  method  has  a  great  advantage  in  following  the 
same  line  of  reasoning  by  which  pupils  solve  such  ques- 
tions as,  "What  is  the  cost  of  2  bu.  3  pks.  1  qt.  1  pt.  of 
beans  at  $1.75  per  bushel?" 

In  that  way  it  makes  interest  but  a  continuation  of 
other  subjects,  instead  of  an  entirely  new  subject  with 
a  new  system  of  computation. 

The  rule  is  stated  as  follows:  Find  interest  on  prin- 
cipal for  one  year  at  given  rate;  reduce  months  and  days 
to  the  decimal  of  a  year;  multiply  the  interest  for  one 
year  by  the  number  of  years. 

For  example:  Find  the  interest  of  $750  for  2  yrs.  9 
mos.  18  days  at  4^  per  cent. 

Divide  18   days  by   30   and    reduce   to   a   decimal. 
30)18.0 

.6    month. 
Divide   9.6   months   by  12  and  reduce  to   a  decimal. 
12)9.6 


58  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

$750X.045  gives  interest  for   1   year  =  $33.75. 

Multiply  $33.75    (interest   for   one   year)    by   2.8    (years)  =  $94.50. 
Interest  on   $2,875.75   for  3   yrs.   7   mos.   17  days  at  5^%. 
17  -h  30  =  .567    month.  m 

7.567  -=-  12  =  .63    year. 
Multiply    $2,875.75   by  5.5  =  x. 

Multiply    x    oy    3.63  =  interest    on    $2,875.75    for    3    yrs.    7    mos.    17 
days  at  5J^%. 


Economical  Form  of  Sales  Ledger. 

THE  form  of  ledger  here  illustrated  has  been  devised 
with   a   view   to   overcoming  the   inconvenience   of 
having  an  account  containing  a  large   number  of 
debit   entries   and    only   one   or   two   credit   entries,   thus 
wasting  a  great  deal  of  paper  on  the  credit  side. 


Sinking  Fund  Computations. 

TO  ascertain  what  annuity  payable  at  the  end  of  each 
year  will  amount  to  a  given  sum  in  a  stipulated 
number  of  years  at  a  stated  rate  of  interest  com- 
pounded annually: 

Divide  the  interest  for  one  year  upon  the  given  sum 
by  the  compound  interest  upon  $i  at  the  stated  rate  for 
the  stipulated  numbers  of  years. 

Where  the  annuity  is  payable  at  the  beginning  of 
each  year,  proceed  as  above  and  divide  the  result  by  the 
amount  of  $i  for  one  year  at  the  given  rate. 

For  example — provide  for  the  payment  of  $20,000, 
payable  in  twenty  years  by  putting  into  the  sinking  fund 
a  certain  amount  at  the  end  of  each  year  at  3  per  cent 
compound  interest,  divide  the  interest  for  one  year  on 
$20,000  at  3  per  cent,  which  will  amount  to  $600  by 
$0.80612  (the  compound  interest  for  twenty  years  upon 
$1  at  3  per  cent)  and  the  result  is  $744.31,  which  is  the 
amount  to  be  thus  set  aside. 

If  this  amount  is  to  be  set  aside  at  the  beginning  of 
each  year,  divide  $744.31  by  $1.03  and  the  result  is 
$722.63. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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60  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

A  Bond  Purchase  Formula. 

WHAT  must  be  paid  for  bonds  amounting  to  $10,- 
ooo  maturing  in  ten  years  with  4  per  cent  inter- 
est, to  net  six  per  cent?  and  give  the  formula  by 
which  you  arrive  at  the  figures. 

The  question  does  not  mention  whether  interest  is  to 
be    paid    annually,    semi-annually,    or    quarterly,    which 
makes  a  difference  in  the  result.     If  annually,  the  oricc 
to  be  paid  is  $8,527.98;  if  semi-annually  it  is  $8,512.25. 
The  process  is  as  follows,  at  annual  interest: 

a.  Add  to   $1  its  net  income  for  one  period.     1  +  .06  =  1.06. 

b.  Multiply  this  by  itself  till  you  have  used  it  as  a  factor  as 
many    times    as     there     are     periods     (10.).     106  X  1.06  X  1.06  X  1.06 

X  1.06  X  1-06  X  l.oa 
X  1.06  X   1-06  X  1.06 
=    1.790847    

c.  Divide  1  by  the   result  of  b.      1  -f-  1.790847  =  .5583948    

d.  Subtract  the  result  of  c  from  1.  1.0000000  —  .5583948  = 
.4416052. 

e.  Multiply  this  by  the  difference  between  the  cash  interest  and 
the   net  income    (6  —  4  =   2).      .4416052   X   2  =   .8832104. 

/.  Divide  this  by  the  net  income  rate  (6).  .8832104  -=-  6  = 
.1472017. 

g.  This  last  result  is  either  premiem  or  discount.  As  the  net 
income  rate  is  larger  than  the  cash  interest,  it  must  be  discount.  There- 
fore it  is  to  be  subtracted  from  $1.  1.  —  .1472017  =  .8527983,  which 
is   the   value  of   $1    on    the   proposed   terms. 

h.  The    value    of    $10,000    of    bonds    is    10,000    times    as    much,    or 
$8,527.98. 
To    prove    that    this    is    correct,    take   the    first    year's    income. 

6%     of     $8,527.98,     or $    511.68 

3nd    from    it    subtract    the    cash    interest 400.00 


and    the    remainder     $    111.68 

is   the   appreciation   caused   by   the   bond    approaching   maturity. 

Add    this    to     8.527.9S 


and    we    have $8,639.66 

as  the  value  of  the  bond  when  it  has  only  9  years  to  run. 

Again.  Compute  a  year's  interest  on  this  principal, 
and  repeat  the  process,  until  at  maturity  the  value  is 
found  to  be  $9,999.99,  and  the  amount  paid  to  redeem  it  is 
$10,000.  The  odd  cent  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  orig- 
inal price  about  3  mills  were  saved  to  the  purchaser  at  the 
"nearest  cent."  You  have  thus  had  6  per  cent  interest 
continuously  on  the  amount  invested. 

The  work  of  multiplying  1.06  by  itself  9  times  and 
then  dividing  $1  by  the  product  is  very  tedious.  It  is  im- 
mensely shortened  by  the  use  of  logarithms.     Simply  take 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  61 

the  logarithm  of  1.06,  multiply  it  by  10,  subtract  that  from 
zero,  and  search  in  the  book  of  logarithms  for  the  corre- 
sponding number,  which  is  at  once  found  to  be  .5583948. 
Algebraically  expressed,  the  formula  is  much  simpler. 
Let  c  represent  the  cash  interest  received  periodically  on 
each  unit  of  par,  r  the  rate  of  net  income  on  each  unit 
invested,  n  the  number  of  periods,  then  the  premium  or 
discount. 


Present  Value  of  Bonds. 

PROBLEM.— What  can  I  pay  for  a  6  per  cent  U.  S. 
Bond  maturing  in  10  years,  so  that  my  investment 
will  yield  to  me  4  per  cent  interest  payable  semi 
annually  ? 

Rule. — Divide  the  compound  interest  on  $1.00  at  the 
required  rate  for  the  given  time  by  the  regular  rate;  mul- 
tiply the  quotient  by  the  interest  on  the  bond  for  one 
year;  to  the  product  add  the  face  value  of  the  bond  and 
divide  the  sum  by  the  compound  amount  of  $1.00  at  the 
required  rate  for  the  given  time. —  (B.  and  S.  Com. 
Arith.,  page  388.) 

Explantion  of  the  Rule. —  (a)  There  are  two  methods 
for  the  solution  of  problems  relating  to  stock  and  bond 
investments,  viz.,  the  Simple  Interest  Method,  and  •  the 
Compound  Interest  Method,  (b)  The  government  uses 
the  Compound  Interest  Method,  (c)  This  method  al- 
lows the  investment  and  each  payment  of  interest  on  the 
bond  to  be  compounded,  at  the  investor's  rate,  to  ma- 
turity, (d)  Each  payment  of  interest  is  compounded  at 
the  end  of  each  bond  interest  interval,  while  the  invest- 
ment is  compounded  at  the  end  of  each  of  the  intervals 
agreed  upon  in  contract,  (e)  If  there  be  no  such  agree- 
ment, the  investment  is  compounded  at  the  end  of  each 
of  such  intervals  as  are  equivalent  to  a  bond  interest  in- 
terval, (f)  Whenever  the  bond  interest  interval  and 
the  investment  interest  interval  are  of  unequal  duration, 
both  are  reduced  to  respectively  equal  intervals  and  the 
interests  calculated  accordingly,      (g)     The  principle  in- 


62  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

volved  in  the  compound  interest  method  is:  Any  pay- 
ment of  interest  is  worth  the  same  interest  rate  to  the 
investor  as  he  receives  from  the  entire  investment,  (h) 
The  final  value  of  the  interest  payments  at  the  maturity 
of  the  bond  is  the  sum  of  the  compound  amounts  of  the 
payments  at  the  investor's  rate,  (i)  The  maturity  value 
of  the  bond  is  evidently  the  sum  of  the  face  value  of  the 
bond  and  the  final  value  of  the  interest  payments,  (j) 
Then,  in  accord  with  above  principles  the  investment  is 
the  compound  present  worth  at  the  investor's  rate  per 
interval,  of  the  maturity  value  of  the  bond. 


A  Credit  Man's  Ledger. 

On    page  63    is    a    convenient    form    of    sales    ledger 
where  the  book-keeper  also  acts  as  credit  man. 

Proof  by   Casting  Out  of  g's. 

TO  cast  the  9's  out  of  any  number,  is  to  find  the  ex- 
cess of  the  sum  of  its  digits  above  a  certain  num- 
ber of  9's.  It  is  performed  thus:  Begin  at  either 
end  of  the  number  and  add  the  digits  in  order,  and  when 
the  sum  is  9  or  more,  drop  the  9  and  add  the  excess  to 
the  next  digit  and  so  on,  the  last  excess  being  retained. 
For  example,  to  cast  the  9's  out  of  735684,  we  say  7  and 
3  are  10,  which  is  1  above  9;  1,  5  and  6  are  12,  which  is 
3  above  9;  3  and  8  are  II,  which  is  2  above  9;  2  and  4 
are  6;  6  is  the  sum  of  the  digits  above  a  certain  numbci 
of  9's. 

Proposition.— Any   number   divided   by  9   will   leav1 
the  same  remainder  as  the  sum  of  its  digits  divided  by  9. 
To  illustrate  this  we  will  take  the  number  36745. 


36745= 


30000=3(10000)  = 

6000=6(   1000)  = 

700=7(      100)  = 

40=4(        10)  = 

5=5  = 

3(9999+l)=3X9999+3 
6(  999+D=6X  999+6 
7(  99+l)=7X  99+7 
4(  9+l)=4X  9+4 
5 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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J* 

4^ 

64  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

From  this  analysis  wc  see  that  36745  might  be  writ 
ten, 

2  X  9999  +  6X999  +  7X99  +  4X9  + 

3  +  6  +  7  +  4  +  5. 

When  written  in  this  equivalent  form  it  is  at  once 
seen  that  if  it  is  divided  by  9,  the  only  remainder  that 
can  occur  will  come  from  the  division  of  3 -|-6-|— 7-f -4-}- 5 
by  9,  that  is  from  the  division  of  the  sum  of  the  digits 
by  9- 

Proof  for  Addition. — Cast  the  9's  out  of  the  addends, 
also  cast  the  9's  out  of  the  sum;  if  the  excesses  agree,  the 
work  is  correct. 

Proof  for  Subtraction. — Cast  the  9's  out  of  the 
minuend,  also  cast  the  9's  out  of  the  subtrahend  and  re- 
mainder; if  the  excesses  agree,  the  result  is  correct. 

Proof  of  Multiplication. — Cast  the  9's  out  of  the  mul- 
tiplicand and  the  multiplier.  Multiply  the  two  excesses 
together  and  cast  the  9's  out  of  the  result.  If  the  last 
excess  is  equal  to  the  excess  of  9's  in  the  product,  the 
work  is  correct. 

Illustration — 

876    Excess    of    9's    in    876    is  3 

483    Excess    of    9's    in    483    is  6 

2628    6X3=18,    excess    of    9's    in    18    is  0 

7008 
3504 


423108    Excess   of   9's   in    423108   is  0 

Proof  of  Division. — Cast  the  9's  out  of  the  dividend, 
divisor,  quotient  and  remainder.  Multiply  together  the 
excesses  in  divisor  and  quotient  and  cast  the  9's  out  of  the 
result.  To  this  result  add  the  excess  of  9's  in  the  re- 
mainder, and  cast  the  9's  out  of  the  sum;  if  the  work  is 
correct,  this  last  excess  will  be  the  same  as  the  excess 
of  9's  in  the  dividend. 


Illustration — 

283   )   876345 

(   3096 

849 

Excess    of    9's    in    3096    is 



Excess    of    9's    in    283    is 

2734 

2547 

4X0=0,    exc.    in    0    is 



Excess   of  9's  in  177  is 

1875 

1698 

0+6=6,    ex.    of   9's    in   6    is 



Excess    of    9's    in    876345    is 

177 

remainder. 

BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  65 

The  Check  Figure  Eleven. 
V^TTHILE  the  check  figure  n  is  not  infallible,  it  is 
\^y     reliable    in    most    cases.     An   operation   of   this 
system  may  be  described  as  follows : 

Take  two  amounts  of  five  figures  each.  Starting 
at  the  right  hand,  add  the  first,  third  and  fifth  figures  and 
deduct  the  second  and  fourth.  If  the  latter  exceeds  the 
former,  add  n  and  then  deduct.  The  result  is  the  proof 
figure. 

The  illustration  merely  shows  that  the  footing  is 
correct,  the  footing  of  the  check  figures  giving  the  same 
check  figure  as  the  footing  of  the  amounts.  But  if  these 
amounts  are  posted  to  the  ledger  the  same  operation  will 
prove  the  accuracy  of  the  posting. 

We  will  suppose  that  our  book-keeper  is  enlightened 
and  progressive,  and  desires  to  prove  each  day's  work 
as  he  goes  along,  so  as  to  be  able  to  get  his  balance 
promptly  without  trouble  on  the  first  day  of  the  month. 

He  will  post  from  his  sales  book,  or  ticket,  $484.26. 
As  he  posts  the  amount  in  the  ledger  he  extracts  his  proof 
figure  "4,"  and  writes  it  in  the  sales  book  in  a  column 
which  he  arranges  for  the  purpose. 

The  proof  figure  of  the  footing  of  the  sales  book  will 
then  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  postings  to  the  ledger  for 
the  day  by  agreeing  with  the  footing  of  the  column  of 
proof  figures  in  the  sales  book  which  represent  the  post- 
ings to  the  ledger.  The  same  operation  will  prove  the 
accuracy  of  the  ttay's  postings  from  the  cash  book,  jour- 
nal, purchase  record,  or  any  other  book,  so  that  it  is 
within  easy  reach  of  every  book-keeper  with  extraordin- 
arily little  trouble  to  prove  each  day's  work  as  he  goes 
along,  and  to  be  free  from  all  bother  and  trouble  of  errors 
when  he  endeavors  to  obtain  his  monthly  trial  balance. 

In  order  to  make  this  matter  perfectly  clear,  we  ap- 
pend an  illustration  representing  one  day's  work  from  the 
cash  book  and  its  proof. 

The  amounts  posted  to  the  ledger  from  the  sundries 
column  of  the  cash  received  side  of  the  cash  book  are 
represented  by   the   check   figures   in   the   check  column, 


66  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

the  footing  of  which  is  29,  or  9  minus  2  equals  7.  The 
check  figure  extracted  from  the  total  of  the  sundries  col- 
umn— $12,578.68 — is  also  "7,"  thus  proving  the  postings 
to  be  correct  for  the  day.  The  postings  from  the  sales 
book,  journal,  etc.,  are  treated  in  like  manner,  each  sec- 
tion of  the  work  being  thus  proved  separately  and  easily. 
In  entering  balances  from  the  ledger  into  the  trial 
balance  book  the  check  figure  should  be  extracted  first, 
and  the  amount  copied  from  the  ledger  after.  The  foot- 
ing of  the  check  figures  will  then  check  the  correctness 
of  the  amounts  in  the  trial  balance  book,  which  have  been 
copied  from  the  ledger,  and  any  errors  will  be  promptly 
located. 


The  12  Per  Cent  Method  of  Computing  Interest. 

THERE  is  scarcely  an  instance  where  the  interest 
in  a  note  or  an  account,  especially  when  the  ac- 
count is  of  one  item,  is  desired  that  it  can  not  be 
done  mentally  with  a  little  practice  in  a  fraction  of  the 
time  ordinarily  consumed  in  figuring  it  out  on  paper,  or 
turning  to  several  different  pages,  jotting  down  an  amount 
from  each  one  of  these  pages  and  finally  footing  up  these 
amounts  for  the  desired  result,  as  is  necessary  with  all 
books  of  interest  tables  no  matter  how  well  the  book  may 
be  tabulated  and  indexed.  In  the  ordinary  routine  of 
business  any  amount  less  than  one  dollar  can  be  elim- 
inated from  the  process,  except  that  where  the  interest  is 
desired  on  an  account  of  several  items  maturing  at  dif- 
ferent dates,  an  average  should  be  struck  by  treating 
amounts  over  fifty  cents  as  one  dollar  and  ignoring  lesser 
amounts.  For  example:  $234.74  should  be  taken  as  $235 
and  $234.26  would  be  taken  as  $234  only.  Then  by  using 
the  12  per  cent  method  as  a  basis,  the  majority  of  notes 
and  time  drafts  being  for  even  months  and  interest  on 
such  papers  almost  universally  being  a  rate  of  which  12 
is  a  multiple,  it  becomes  merely  a  matter  of  simple  mental 
arithmetic.  The  interest  for  one  month  on  any  amount 
at  12  per  cent  is  readily  seen  to  be  1  per  cent  of  the  prin- 
cipal.   For  example  the  interest  on  $234.00  for  one  month 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  67 

at  12  per  cent  is  $2.34.  By  multiplying  this  amount  by 
the  number  of  months  for  which  the  interest  is  desired, 
say  three  months,  we  have  $7.02,  the  interest  on  the' 
principal  for  the  desired  time  at  12  per  cent.  Should 
the  rate  of  interest  be  6  per  cent  simply  take  one-hali 
of  $7.02  which  is  $3.51  the  interest  on  $234.00  for  three 
months  at  6  per  cent.  Should  the  rate  of  interest  be  3 
per  cent,  take  one-quarter  of  $7.02  which  is  $1.76.  In 
cases  where  the  rate  of  interest  desired  is  not  a  factor 
of  twelve  the  operation  can  be  carried  mentally  till  the 
interest  at  12  per  cent  is  reached  and  for  convenience 
written  down.  Then  if  the  rate  sh^  M  be  5  per  cent, 
divide  this  amount  by  2  per  cent  which  gives  you  6  per 
cent  and  deduct  one-sixth  from  this  amount,  the  remain- 
der being  the  interest  at  5  per  cent.  Or  again  one-third 
of  the  amount  secured  at  12  per  cent  gives  the  interest  at  4 
per  cent  then  adding  one-quarter  of  this  result  we  have 
the  interest  at  5  per  cent.  A  number  of  examples,  one 
given  below  with  simple  amounts  it  being  advisable  to 
practice  on  even  amounts  and  full  months  until  the 
process  becomes  familiar  and  then  any  amount  at  any 
fraction  of  a  month  becomes  a  simple  matter  as  will  be 
shown. 

Desired  the  interest  on  $756.00  at  4%   for  5  mos. 

Interest  for  5  mos.   at  12%  is  5  by  7.56  is  37.80. 
1/3  of  37.80  is  12.60,  the  desired   amount. 
Desired  the  interest  on  $649.75   at  5%   for  3   mos. 

Interest  for  3  mos.   at  12%  is  3  by  6.50  is  19.50. 

1/3   of   19.50  is   6.50  int.  at  4% 
Plus  1/4    1.63 


$8.13  int.  at  5% 
Desired  the  interest  on  $532.21  at  8%  for  7  mos. 

Interest  for  7  mos.  at  12%  is  7  by  5.32  is  37.24 
Less   1/3    of   37.24   =    12.41 

$24.83  int  at  8% 

When  the  time  given  includes  fractional  parts  of  a 
month  the  number  of  days  given  should  be  treated  as  a 
fraction  of  a  month,  30  days  being  the  customary  time 
on  which  the  month  is  based,  so  that  10  days  is  1-3  of  a 
month,  6  days  1-5  of  a  month  and  so  on.  When  the 
number  of  days  given  is  not  one  or  more  an  exact  factor 


68  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

of  a  month  for  all  ordinary  purposes  it  is  sufficient  to 
add  on  or  drop  one  or  two  days  to  make  it  so.  For  ex- 
ample 13  days  would  be  considered  1-2  of  a  month  or  15 
days,  or  by  dropping  a  day  it  would  become  2-5  of  a 
month.  Thus  the  operation  in  arriving  at  the  interest 
on  any  amount  at  12  per  cent  for  the  given  time  would 
be  as  follows: 

Desired  the  interest  on  $673.64  at  12%  for  3  mos.  21  days. 
Interest  for  3  mos.  is  3  by  6.74  is  20.22 
21    days    or   2/3    of    6.74    is    4.49 


$24.71  int.  at  12% 

The  operation  would  then  be  continued  to  secure  any 
rate  as  shown  before.  It  will  be  seen  also  that  on  the 
basis  of  30  days  to  a  month  that  removing  the. decimal 
point  one  unit  to  the  left,  in  the  amount  of  interest  for 
one  month  you  have  the  interest  for  3  days.  The  above 
example  can  thus  be  simplified  as  will  be  found  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  it  becoming  again  merely  a  mental  mul- 
tiplication of  .67  by  7  instead  of  taking  2-3  of  6.74,  re- 
quiring figuring  by  anyone  not  somewhat  proficient  in 
mental  arithmetic.    Thus  the  process  would  be  as  follows : 

Interest  on  $673-64  at  12%  for  3  mos.   is  20.22 
Interest   for   21   days   is  7   by  .67   is 4.69 


$24.91 

By  this  method  with  a  little  practice  anyone  can 
arrive  at  the  interest  on  any  amount  for  any  given  time 
in  much  less  time  than  with  the  old  process  of  multiply- 
ing the  principal  by  the  rate  to  secure  the  interest  for 
one  year  and  reducing  this  amount  to  the  time  in  months 
and  days  required.  It  will  be  found  much  quicker  also 
than  using  an  interest  book  as  it  is  always  necessary  to 
write  down  several  amounts  and  then  perform  the  subse- 
quent addition  for  total  sum,  it  being  much  quicker  to 
perform  a  simple  example  in  multiplication  or  division 
by  a  unit,  than  to  hunt  for  the  proper  column  in  a  con- 
fusing mass  of  figures.  As  a  concluding  example  it  is 
desired  to  secure  the  interest  on  $1,263.45  at  5  per  cent 
for  3  months  12  days.  Mentally  we  say,  3  times  1263  is 
37.89  writing  down  this  amount.     Then  remembering  the 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  69 

interest  for  three  days,  is  one  tenth  of  one  month  we  say 
4  times  1.26  is  $6.04  which  we  write  down  under  the 
first  amount,  being  the  interest  for  12  days.  The  sum  of 
these  two  amounts  $43.93  gives  us  the  interest  at  12  per 
cent  for  the  desired  time.  One-half  of  $43.93  is  $21.97 
the  interest  at  6  per  cent,  less  1-6  of  the  amount  which  is 
$3.66,  leaves  $18.31  the  desired  interest  which  is  obtained 
in  much  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it.  The  operation 
is  shown  below  and  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  write  down  the  final  amount  in  each  operation. 

Desired  the  interest  on   $1,450.00  at  7%  for   4  mos.   5   days. 
4  by  14.50  is  58.00    int.     for    4    mos.    at    12% 
1/6  of  14.50    is     2.42    int.    for    5    days    at    12% 


$60.42   total  int.   at  12% 
1/2  of  60.42  is  30.21  total   int.  at  6% 
1/6  of  30.21  is     5.04 


$35.25    total   int.    at   7% 

Interest  on  Daily  Balances. 

EXTEND  the  daily  balance  day  by  day  calculating  in 
a  separate  column  the  number  of  days  each  bal- 
ance is  in  existence.  Thus,  if  $ioo  were  deposited 
in  a  bank  January  ist  and  no  further  deposits  or  any 
withdrawals  made  until  February  ist,  the  number  of  days 
would  be  31.  Multiply  the  amount  of  the  daily  balance 
by  the  number  of  days  and  divide  the  product  by  the  in- 
terest divisors  according  to  the  rate  of  interest.  Thus, 
the  divisor  for  4  per  cent  is  8760;  for  4^  per  cent,  8030; 
for  5  per  cent,  7300;  for  $l/>  per  cent,  6570;  for  6  per 
cent,  6220. 


Some   Arithmetical    Oddities. 

"by  f.  l.  sawyer,  m.  a. 

Here  is  a  circular  number  of  18  digits 

1 57894736842 1 05263 

Multiply   it   by   any   number   whatever   and   the   product 
will  still  consist  of  the  same  figures  in  the  same  order. 
The  sum   of  any   number  of   consecutive   odd  num- 


70 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


bers  is  always  a  square  number.  For  instance,  the  sum 
of  i,  3  and  5  is  the  square  of  3;  the  sum  of  1,  3,  5,  7,  9, 
11,  13,  is  the  square  of  7.  In  each  case  the  sum  will  be 
seen  to  be  the  square  of  the  number  of  terms  taken. 

The  following  equations  may  be  added  to  the  re- 
markable combinations  discovered  by  Prof.  Asoph  Hall, 
as  mentioned  in  the  September  Book- Keeper: 


121=2x2. 

12321=3x3. 

1234321=4x4. 

123454321=5x5. 

12345654321=6x6. 

1234567654321=7x7. 

123456787654321=8x8. 

12345678987654321=9x9. 

123456789    times 

9 

plus 

10 

equals 

1111111111. 

123456789    times 

18 

plus 

20 

equals 

2222222222. 

123456789    times 

27 

plus 

30 

equals 

3333333333. 

123456789    times 

36 

plus 

40 

equals 

4444444444. 

123456789    times 

45 

plus 

50 

equals 

5555555555. 

123456789    times 

54 

plus 

60 

equals 

6666666666. 

123456789    times 

<>:>> 

plus 

70 

equals 

7777777777. 

123456789    times 

72 

plus 

80 

equals 

8888888888. 

123456789    times 

81 

plus 

90 

equals 

9999999999. 

This  table  is  still  more  interesting  when  it  is  noticed 
that  each  multiplier  is  divisble  by  9,  and  that,  when  the 
figures  of  each  answer  are  added  together  and  the  added 
number  is  subtracted/ the  answer  is  o.  For  example,  the 
sum  of  1, in, in, in  is  10;   10  minus  10  is  o. 


987654321 
987654321 
987654321 
987654321 
987654321 
987654321 
987654321 
987654321 
987654321 


times  9  equals 

times  18  equals 

times  27  equals 

times  36  equals 

times  45  equals 

times  54  equals 

times  63  equals 

times  72  equals 

times  81  equals 


8888888889. 

17777777778. 

26666666067. 

35555555556. 

44444444445. 

53333333334. 

62222222223. 

71111111112. 

80000000001. 


In  this  table  it  will  also  be  noticed  that  each  multi- 
plier is  divisible  by  9,  and  that,  if  the  figures  in  each 
answer  are  added  together,  they  will  form  a  total  which, 
if  added  together,  will  equal  9.  For  example,  take  the 
second  answer,  T-777777777%-  These  figures  added 
together  equal  72,  and  7  plus  2  are  9. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  71 

The  number  142,857  is  quite  peculiar,  and  forms  the 
basis  of  many  seemingly  marvelous  number  tricks. 

142,857X1=142,857. 
142,857X2=285,714. 
142,857X3=428,571. 
142,857X4=571,428. 
142,857X5=714,285. 
142,857X6=857,142. 
142,857X7=999,999. 
142,857X8=1,142,856 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  products  down  to  that  by 
7  consist  of  the  figures  of  the  number  142,857  in  regular 
order,  but  beginning  at  different  places.  The  product 
by  7  consists  of  9's  only.  The  product  by  8  is  the 
product  by  1,  diminish  by  1  and  with  1  prefixed.  The 
products  by  9,  10,  11,  12,  13  are  made  from  the  products 
by  2,  3,  4,  5,  6  in  the  same  way  as  the  product  by  8. 

142,857X14=1,999,998. 

The  products  by   15,    16,   17,    18,   19,   20,  are  gotten 
from  the  products  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  by  subtracting  2  and 
prefixing  2. 
For  example — 

142,857x19=2,714,283 

The  product  by  5  is  714,285.  When  2  is  subtracted 
and  prefixed  this  becomes  2,714,283.  The  reader  will 
readily  see  how  this  peculiarity  extends  to  the  products 
by  all  numbers. 

In  general,  to  multiply  any  number  by  142,857, 
divide  the  number  by  7,  and  from  that  number  among 
the  products  of  142,857  by  1,  2,  3,  4/5,  6,  7  correspond- 
ing to  the  remainder  subtract  the  number  of  7's  and  also 
prefix    the    number    of   7's. 

Illustration:     Multiply  635,485  by  142,857. 

635,483-^7=90,783,  with  remainder  4.  The  remainder 
4  corresponds  to  571,428.     571,428  less  90,783=480,645. 

To  this  remainder  prefix  90,873,  and  the  product 
90,783,480,645  appears. 

The  number  142,857  is  the  integral  part  of  the 
quotient  arising  by  dividing  1,000,000  by  7.  Or,  it  is  the 
simple  repetend  produced  by  reducing  the  common  frac- 
tion  1-7  to  a  decimal.     Any  person  at  all  familiar  with 


72  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

the  subject  of  repetends  will  readily  see  that  any  num- 
ber of  sevenths  similarly  reduced  must  give  a  like  repe- 
tend,  the  repeating  figures,  of  course,  occurring  in  a  dif- 
ferent order.  But  there  are  more  striking  peculiarities 
connected  with  this  repetend  not  noticed  in  the  article 
referred  to.  For  instance,  take  the  repetends  for  1-7, 
2-7,  3-7,  4-7,  5-7,  and  6-y  with  the  successive  remainders 
arising  from  their  production  in  regular  order  and  we 
have, 

Fraction.  Repetends.  Remainders. 


1/7 

142857 

326451 

2/7 

286714 

645132 

3/7 

428571 

264513 

4/7 

571428 

513264 

5/7 

714285 

132645 

6/7 

857142 

451326 

First,  the  sum  of  the  digits  of  each  repetend  is  2J, 
and  the  sum  of  each  perpendicular  column  is  also  27. 

Second,  the  numbers  headed  remainders  are  sim- 
ple repetends,  each  one  succeeding  the  first  commencing 
with  the  same  numerical  period  as  the  original  repetend. 

Third,  the  sum  of  the  digits  of  each  remainder  is  21, 
and  the  sum  of  each  perpendicular  column  is  also  21. 

Fourth,  if  the  repetends  be  expressed  as  a  common 
fraction  the  radix  for  their  reduction  is  2j,  37,  143. 

Fifth,  express  the  remainders  as  a  common  fraction 
and  reduce  to  the  lowest  common  denominator,  9009, 
and  the  common  radix  of  the  numerators  will  be  70  with 
quotients  of  independent  relations,  and  the  successive 
remainders    1,    2,    3,    4,    5,    6. 

The  curious  in  such  matters  might  find  pleasure, 
if  not  benefit,  in  discovering  an  explanation  for  the 
appearance  of  27  and  21  in  the  horizontal  and  perpendi- 
cular summation  of  the  digits  in  the  repetends  and  in 
the  remainders. 

The  number  588,235,294,117,647  possesses  similar 
properties. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  7S 

"One  Hundred"  Problem. 

Can  you  arrange  the  figures — i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 
o — so  that  they  will  foot  up  100  without  using  any  num- 
ber twice? 


SOLUTIONS. 

8X9+7+6+5 

+4+3+2 

+1+0=100 

70 

12 

9  8/4 

5  6/3 
76.9 

0.1 

2. 

5. 
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100. 

1 

1 

0 

1 

1 

3 

3 

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7 

7 

4 

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6 

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80    ■ 

80 

12 

35 

6 

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7 

65.9 

40.9 

8 

100 

100 





100 

100 

70.9 
100 

An  Efficient  Voucher  System. 

IN  a  large  business  two  series  of  vouchers  are  main- 
tained; one  to  cover  accounts  payable  and  expendi- 
tures and  the  other  to  cover  employes'  accounts  for 
checks  and  cash  drawn  and  the  few  sundry  cash  expendi- 
tures. This  gives  a  voucher  for  every  cent  paid  out 
whether  cash  or  check. 

When  goods  are  to  be  ordered  an  order  blank  is  made 
out  in  duplicate,  the  original  is  sent  to  the  party  and  the 
duplicate  is  placed  in  a  file  labeled  goods  ordered.  The 
orders  are  numbered  consecutively.  Upon  receipt  of  the 
invoice  it  is  stamped  with  a  rubber  stamp  and  prices  and 
extensions  examined  and  O.  K.'d. 

As  bills  are  vouchered  monthly  or  oftener  if  cash 
discounts  are  allowed,  all  bills  from  the  same  firm  are 
stamped  with  the  same  voucher  number,  bills  and  requisi- 


7} 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


75 


tions  securely  fastened  together  and  placed  in  a  file  to 
await  payment.  When  payment  is  to  be  made  a  voucher 
is  made  out,  items  of  distribution,  etc.,  entered  in  voucher 
register,  and  check  and  voucher  sent  to  creditor.  The 
total  of  the  check  is  entered  on  credit  side  of  cash  book 
in  column  headed  "vouchers  payable."  When  voucher  is 
returned  properly  receipted,  all  bills  and  requisitions 
referring  to  same  voucher  are  filed  with  it.  Upon  return 
of  the  check  it  is  also  filed  with  voucher,  thus  giving  a 
history   of   everything  bearing   on  the   order    from    the 


n — =?^" 

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Nevada  Live  Stock  Co. 

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$> Rtct.vto  of  T«t  Nevada  Live  Stock  Co. 

t\a\\arS 

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Approved  b, 

Supf. 

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original   requisition   to  the  ultimate   settlement  of   same. 

The  total  of  amount  column  in  voucher  record  is 
posted  at  end  of  the  month  to  credit  of  vouchers  payable 
account  in  the  general  ledger.  Total  of  vouchers  payable 
column  in  cash  book  is  posted  to  the  debit  of  vouchers 
payable  account. 

The  difference  between  the  debit  and  credit  sides  of 
this  account  will   represent  the  amount  of  bills  unpaid. 


Labor  Saving  Retail  Sales  Record. 

SUCH  a  vast  amount  of  time  is  wasted  in  retail  stores 
in  keeping  track  of  "charge"  sales,  that  any  good, 
practical    system    should   be    welcomed    as    a    much 
needed  economy. 


76  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

A  large  number  of  proprietors  of  retail  stores,  how- 
ever, know  just  enough  about  book-keeping  to  believe  it 
necessary  to  open  ledger  accounts  with  all  customers  and 
post  the  items  of  all  sales  thereto.  These  items  are  copied 
once  a  month  on  statement  blanks  which  are  then  mailed 
to  customers,  and  altogether,  there  is  a  considerable 
amount  of  work  involved,  most  of  which  is  entirely 
unnecessary. 

Perhaps  as  good  a  system  as  any,  under  ordinary 
conditions,   is  described  below: 

The  counter  clerks  enter  customers'  orders  on  sale 
tickets  or  debit  slips  in  duplicate.  When  the  customer 
takes  the  goods  he  is  given  the  duplicate;  when  the  goods 
are  delivered  the  duplicate  ticket  goes  with  them.  The 
original  is  handed  to  the  book-keeper  who,  at  his  leisure, 
enters  the  items  on  a  regular  billhead  (long  size),  again 
in  duplicate. 

'At  the  end  of  the  month  the  bills  for  that  month  are 
cates  are  attached  to  the  counter  charge  slips.  A  re- 
footed  and  the  originals  sent,  to  the  customers.  The  dupli- 
capitulation  of  the  footings  is  made  and  the  total  debited 
to  an  account  which  is  opened  in  the  ledger  and  called 
"May  sales"  or  "June  sales"  or  whatever  month's  business 
it  may  represent. 

The  bills  are  filed  in  a  separate  file  which  is  labeled 
"May  bills"  and  which  is  really  the  May  or  June  sales 
ledger. 

A  six  column  cash  book  is  used,  separate  columns  be- 
ing provided  for  cash  sales,  May  (etc.)  sales,  sundries. 
The  total  of  May  sales  column  is  credited  to  May  Sales 
account  in  the  ledger,  so  that  the  amount  of  May  sales 
remaining  unpaid  can  be  ascertained  at  any  time.  As 
accounts  are  paid  they  are  removed  from  the  May  file. 
When  a  payment  on  account  is  received  it  is  deducted 
from  the  total  of  the  bill  and  the  latter  remains  in  the 
May  file  until  paid  or  otherwise  disposed  of. 

Some  of  the  advantages  of  the  system  may  be  sum- 
marized  as   follows: 

Unpaid  accounts  of  previous  months  show  up  sep- 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  77 

arately  on  each  month's  trial  balance,  thus  commanding 
attention   and  investigation. 

No  customers'  ledger  account,  no  posting,  no  draw- 
ing off  balances. 

Economy  of  time,  labor  and  ledger  space. 

Facility  of  obtaining  trial  balance. 


A  Quotation  Record  for  the  Buyer. 

A  RECORD  of  quotations  received  is  an  important 
thing  especially  if  the  purchase  of  any  consider- 
able variety  of  articles  is  entrusted  to  a  buyer. 

The  letter  of  quotation  is  sometimes  preserved  to 
act  as  a  record  but  this  is  a  clumsy  method  because  it 
presents  no  comparative  statement  of  quotations  received 
from  different  sources  on  the  same  article.  More  than 
this,  a  way  should  be  provided 'for  recording  verbal  and 
telephone  quotations  as  well. 

The  form  shown  here  is  a  3x5-inch  card,  one  card 
being  used  for  each  article  quoted  except  where  whole 
lists  are  submitted  for  figures  in  which  case  it  is  not 
necessary  to  make  a  card  record.  As  both  sides  of  the 
card  are  used  and  as  it  is  the  usual  custom  to  purchase 
a  60  days'  supply  of  a  commodity  a  card  will  last  a  long 
time. 

This  card  is  valuable — not  only  as  a  clear  compari- 
son of  prices  quoted  but  also  as  a  means  of  reference 
to  previous  orders  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  re-order 
the  same  articles. 


78 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 


Efficient  Method  for  Keeping  Record 
of  Office  Supplies. 

A  SYSTEM  for  the  storage  and  record  of  office  sup- 
plies such  as  pencils,  ink,  etc.,  is  essential  to  the 
proper  conduct  of  any  business  office.  There  are 
many  different  methods  of  handling  the  storing  of  these 
articles,  some  of  them  good,  others  poor.  In  some  offices 
very  little  effort  is  made  to  keep  these  things  in  proper 
shape,  and  as  a  result  some  day  there  are  no  invoice 
blanks  on  hand,  or  the  stenographer  reports  to  the  office 
manager  that  the  writing  paper  is  all  gone.  "Just  used 
the  last  sheet."  Such  situations  are  trying  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  there  is  no  reason  why  such  conditions  should 
exist. 

We  will  make  a  list  of  the  various  office  supplies  that 
ought  to  be  accessible  and  ready  for  use  at  all  times, 
which  ordinarily  would  be  about  as  follows:  Pens,  ink, 
pencils,  penholders,  pins,  paper  fasteners,  sponges,  rubber 
bands,  inkwells,  letter  paper,  carbon  paper,  card  index 
cards,  mucilage. 


&ox*l-         Peocils 

T-to 

ftlack 

5Uoi 

Scfooi 

J.A.Huot&Co. 

S- 31-03 

8-10 

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flO*. 

O 

This  is  a  fairly  comprehensive  list  of  usual  office 
supplies  for  the  ordinary  conduct  of  business.  There  may 
be  slight  variations  from  this  list,  but  it  is  a  substantial 
one,  and  will  answer  our  purpose  of  illustration  fairly 
well. 

Have  a  cabinet  made  like  sketch,  and  number  each 
drawer  consecutively.  You  will  notice  the  drawers  are 
of  different  sizes  and  that  there  are  two  rows  reserved 
for  some  of  the  articles.  This  is  to  provide  plenty  of 
room  for  certain  articles  which  are  largely  used,  so  that 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  81 

the  entire  stock  may  be  kept  in  the  one  place.  The 
bottom  row  is  reserved  for  storage  only,  and  the  row 
above  it  contains  the  working  supply.  The  drawers  will 
easily  accommodate  the  entire  stock  of  each  article,  and 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  divide  up  the  stock. 

Each  article  should  be  given  a  card,  and  the  number 
of  the  box  containing  it  will  be  recorded  on  the  card,  as 
also  amount  of  purchase,  price,  from  whom  purchased, 
and  length  of  time  the  supplies  lasted. 


Efficient    System    for    Keeping    Track    of    Piece 
Work   in  the   Clothing   Business. 

A  QUESTION  which  all  manufacturers  of  clothing 
are  often  more  or  less  troubled  with  is  how  to 
keep  track  of  cuts  in  work  by  the  tailors,  or  oper- 
ators, or  finishers.  In  a  small  concern  where  fifty  work- 
men are  employed,  this  can  be  easily  kept  by  making  an 
entry  in  each  operator's  book  of  what  garments  he  has 
made,  and  at  the  same  time  the  book-keeper  makes  an 
entry  into  his  own  book  used  for  the  purpose.  It  must 
be  understood  that  all  these  hands  are  piece  workers.  The 
question  arises  where  a  firm  has  five  hundred  or  more 
hands,  all  being  piece  workers.  This  can  be  then  man- 
aged by  a  ticket  system.  The  book-keeper,  or  the  man 
in  charge  of  distributing  the  garments  to  the  operators, 
puts  a  ticket  into  each  bundle,  marking  on  same  the 
quantity  of  garments  contained  in  that  bundle. 

The  tailors,  when  they  have  finished  the  garments, 
present  same  to  the  examiner,  who  O.  K.'s  the  garments 
if  correctly  made  and  signs  the  tickets  which  are  then 
good  for  the  price  of  labor  for  that  particular  style  which 
each  ticket  calls  for.  This  ticket  is  not  valid,  unless  it 
bears  the  signature  of  both  foreman  and  examiner.  Each 
garment  has  the  trade  mark  of  the  firm  sewed  on  it,  also 
having  the  order  number  written  on  said  trade  mark 
ticket.  The  garments  after  being  passed  by  the  exam- 
iner, are  transferred  to  the  shipping  department  where 
the  shipping  clerks  assort  all  garments  according  to  like 
order  numbers.    The  office  men  have  by  this  time  trans- 


82 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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84  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

ferred  the  order  to  a  shipping  slip  which  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  shipping  clerk. 

The  shipping  clerk  having  this  shipping  slip  is  posted 
as  to  what  garments  are  in  work  and  for  whom,  and  by 
the  date  of  the  order  on  said  slip  knows  when  the  gar- 
ments are  due  in  his  department.  We  assume  that  the 
garments  being  assorted,  that  order  number  800  is 
amongst  the  lot.  The  shipping  clerk  then  checks  off  the 
garments  that  he  has  ready  to  ship  for  order  number  800 
and  hands  the  shipping  slip  into  the  office  where  the  bill 
is  made.  (See  illustrtaion  how  garments  are  checked 
off  from  the  shipping  slip.)  Before  the  shipping  clerk 
hands  the  package  containing  goods  for  order  number 
800,  or  the  John  Brown  Company,  to  the  express  company, 
he  must  enter  into  a  book  used  for  that  purpose,  the  date, 
the  order  number,  the  quantity  shipped  to  said  order 
number  and  how  shipped. 


A  Card  System  for  the  Memory. 

MANY  a  memorandum  comes  to  your  notice  during 
the  course  of  a  day's  business  which  requires  no 
action  just  at  the  moment,  but  it  should  be  at- 
tended to,  perhaps  tomorrow,  the  day  after,  or  possibly 
some  day  next  month.  It  is  always  an  easy  matter  to 
forget  little  items  of  this  character,  and  to  act  as  an 
automatic  memorandum  a  little  desk  box  should  be  pro- 
vided. Any  stationery  store  will  sell  you  a  desk  drawer 
box  whicK  will  fit  inside  of  any  one  of  the  drawers  of 
your  desk.  This  box  contains  a  set  of  monthly  index 
cards  for  the  year  and  a  set  of  index  cards  numbering 
from  1  to  31  covering  each  day  of  the  month.  When 
a  matter  is  brought  to  your  notice  which  you  desire  to 
have  again  called  to  your  attention  on  the  10th  of  the 
month,  we  will  say,  you  fold  it  in  a  convenient  manner 
and  place  it  in  front  of  the  card  bearing  number  10. 
This  same  action  is  taken  with  every  matter  coming 
to  your  notice  which  requires  setting  forward  for  atten- 
tion, and  when  you  come  to  your  desk  in  the  morning 
your    first    duty    will    be    to    take    out    the    papers    and 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  85 

cards  for  that  day,  setting  the  card  behind  with  the 
previous  cards  at  the  back  of  the  box,  and  giving  proper 
attention  to  the  memorandum  which  is  brought  to  light. 

If  the  papers  in  each  day's  compartment  are  taken 
out  each  morning  it  will  always  be  certain  that  every 
matter  requiring  your  notice  will  be  given  prompt 
attention  just  when  it  should  be  attended  to  and  that 
nothing  will  be   overlooked. 

In  case  a  memorandum  requires  setting  forward 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  present  month  it  is  simply  placed 
next  to  the  index  card  representing  the  particular  month, 
when  it.  will  come  up  automatically  on  the  first  day  of 
that  month. 


Order  Register. 

WHERE  concerns  are  handling  a  large  number  of 
orders  of  small  individual  amounts  it  is  often 
found  advisable  to  provide  an  order  register.  All 
orders  are  registered  as  soon  as  O.  K.'d  by  the  credit  man, 
and  then  transmitted  to  the  order  filling  department. 
The  lines  on  the  order  register  are  numbered  consecu- 
tively and  by  means  of  a  suitable  numbering  machine 
which  can  be  purchased  very  cheaply  the  order  is  made 
to  bear  the  number  shown  on  the  register.  A  convenient 
arrangement  provides  an  extension  column  on  the  order 
itself  and  the  prices  and  extensions  are  carried  out 
thereon.  After  this  is  done  and  the  bill  made  out  the 
amount  of  the  order  is  entered  upon  the  order  register, 
and  if  desired  this  order  register  can  be  used  as  a  jour- 
nal, the  amounts  being  posted  to  the  individual  accounts 
instead  of  posting  from  the  order  itself.  In  case  it  is 
desired  to  distribute  sales  according  to  sales  territories, 
or  according  to  salesmen's  territories  the  order  register 
can  be  provided  with  vertical  columns,  one  column  for 
each  sales  division.  If  a  cross  check  as  to  the  total 
amount  is  desired  the  amount  of  the  order  irrespective  of 
the  territory  to  which  it  is  to  be  credited  can  be  entered 
in  the  first  column  and  again  entered  under  the  appro- 
priate heading  in  one  or  another  of  the  vertical  columns. 


86 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  87 

The  total  footing  of  these  columns  at  the  expiration  of 
the  month,  week  or  other  period  determined  upon  gives 
the  total  sales  of  any  given  salesman  or  in  any  given 
territory.  This  first  or  check  column  is  not  neces- 
sary, however,  although  it  costs  but  a  slight  amount 
of  additional  work  on  the  part  of  the  entry  clerk.  It 
will  readily  be  seen  that  no  page  will  be  footed  until 
return  has  been  made  of  every  order  listed  on  that 
page,  ancl  no  page  will  be  ruled  off  as  complete  until 
all  previous  pages  are  filled.  A  glance  at  the  register 
at  any  time  will  show  just  what  orders  are  filled  and 
unfilled,  and  if  for  any  cause  an  order  is  delayed  an 
unreasonable  length  of  time  through  inability  to  fill,  etc., 
it  can  be  canceled,  transferred  to  a  later  number  and 
re-numbered  on  its  face,  a  note  of  the  transfer  number 
being  made  on  the  order  register. 


Perpetual  Inventories. 

THE   following  method  is  used  by   a  large  clothing 
house : 
i.     The  salesman  makes  sale  slip  or  ticket  with 
each  sale  showing  the  cost  in  characters  and  the  selling 
price  in  plain  figures,  of  the  articles  sold. 

2.  This  slip  goes  to  the  cashier,  who  records  both 
cost  and  selling  price  on  daily  sale  sheet,  of  that  depart- 
ment. 

3.  The  total  footings  for  each  day,  are  posted  as 
follows :  In  ledger,  each  department  is  credited  with 
selling  price  of  goods  sold.  In  stock  book,  each  depart- 
ment is  credited  with  cost  price  of  goods  sold. 

4.  Invoices  of  goods  received  are  charged  to  proper 
department  at  cost  price,  on  both  ledger  and  stock  book. 

This  will  then  allow  the  gross  profit  to  be  shown  on 
the  ledger  account  of  each  department,  and  the  goods  on 
hand  (at  cost  price)  on  stock  book  of  each  department, 
and  the  accounts,  at  time  of  closing,  would  look  some- 
thing like  the  following: 


88  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

Cashier's   Report  of   Sales,   Month  of  ,   19 — . 

No.    1. 
Clothing    $800  00  $450  00  $1,250   00  $1,000  00 

No.    2. 
Shoes. 

No.   3. 
Hats,  etc. 

CLOTHING   DEPT.    (LEDGER    ACCT.) 

March   1 — 

Inventory     $9,000  00 

Purchases     500   00 

Gross  profit   250  00 

$9,750  00 

Total    sales    $1,250  00 

Inventory      (cost)      8,500  00 

$9,750  00 
CLOTHING  DEPT.   (STOCK  ACCOUNT). 
March   1 — 

Inventory    (cost)    $9,000  00 

Purchases    500  00 

$9,500   00 
March   31 — 

Cost    on    sales    - $1,000   00 

Cost    inventory    8,500  00 

$9,500   00 

If  goods  are  marked  down  and  sold  for  less  than  cost, 
they  are  so  shown  on  sale  ticket,  and  loss  appears  on 
ledger  account  with  department,  Dut  not  on  stock  record. 


Time  Savers  for  the  Office  Man. 

THE   ordinary   office  man  wastes   too  much   time  in 
doing  unnecessary  things — too  much  time  in  run- 
ning around  looking  for  something  which  his  office 
boy  could  get  for  him  just  as  well. 

How  many  office  men  do  we  see  scrambling  through 
a  drawer  full  of  papers  to  find  a  certain  one  which  is 
needed  at  the  moment.  Valuable  time  is  wasted — his 
time  or  his  employers.  Keep  papers  of  every  class  in  a 
separate  compartment,  thus:  Procure  some  pieces  of 
heavy  Manilla  paper  about  I2xi8-inches  in  size  and  fold 
each  one  through  the  middle  making  a  "folder"  about 
9xi2-inches  and  place  them  on  your  desk  ready  for 
use.  Letter  or  label  these  folders  according  to  your 
needs  and  always  remember  that  they  are  not  letter  files 
or  "grave  yards  for  letters"  but  merely  temporary  rest- 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  .  89 

ing  places  for  material  which  is  soon  to  be. referred  to. 
One  for  instance,  may  be  lettered  "Quotations  to  be 
made,"  another,  "Suggestions  for  advertising,"  another 
"For  Dictation,"  etc.,  etc.  The  various  purposes  for 
which  each  separate  folder  may  be  reserved  will  readily 
suggest  themselves  when  the  scheme  is  placed  in  opera- 
tion. 


Labor-Savings  System  of  Keeping  Track 
of  Printed  Matter. 

ALMOST  every  office  which  uses  a  great  deal  of  sta- 
in keeping  track  of  it.  Very  often,  just  when 
tionery  or  printed  matter  has  more  or  less  trouble 
badly  needed  some  certain  blank  or  card  runs  out,  neces- 
sitating exasperating  delay,  extra  haste  and  often  poor 
work  on  the  part  of  the  printer  in  getting  out  a  new  sup- 
ply. Very  often  stationery  is  misplaced  or  overlooked, 
and  when  the  new  lot  is  printed  it  is  found  that  there 
is  an  ample  supply  of  the  old  at  hand.  It  often  takes  con- 
siderable research  to  find  out  who  was  the  printer,  the 
quantity  used,  when  the  supply  is  likely  to  run  out,  as  well 
as  the  cost,  and  the  quantity  which  should  be  ordered. 
It  is  also  desirable  to  have  a  plan  by  which,  if  a  change 
is  to  be  made  in  the  new  edition,  note  to  that  effect  can 
be  made  without  danger  of  overlooking  it.  The  plan  de- 
vised and  used  by  the  Inland  Type  Foundry  is  very  sim- 
ple and  inexpensive.  By  its  use  not  only  can  the  desired 
piece  of  printed  matter  be  found  instantly,  but  at  any 
moment  the  system  will  tell  the  cost,  how  much  is  on 
hand,  when  it  is  likely  to  run  out  and  from  whom  it 
should  be  procured.     Here  are  the  details: 

When  printed  matter  is  ordered,  the  order  specifies 
into  how  many  packages  it  must  be  wrapped.  When  it 
is  received  by  the  clerk  who  has  charge  of  the  stationery, 
a  sample  is  reserved  and  pasted  in  a  scrap-book,  together 
with  the  date,  the  amount  and  the  cost,  which  last  may 
be  in  cipher  if  desired.  The  stationery  is  all  kept  in  a 
large  cabinet,  the  different  divisions  of  which  are  marked 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


91 


with  letters.  Before  putting  away  a  lot,  to  each  package 
is  attached  a  label  similar  to  fig.  2,  which  is  reduced 
one-third.  Whenever  a  new  lot  of  matter  is  received, 
the  bundles  are  counted  to  see  if  they  agree  with  the  re- 
quisition and  a  card  is  filled  out  like  figure  i.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  at  this  time  nothing  is  written 
against  the  numbers,  which  fill  the  greater  part  of  the 
sheet.  In  the  Inland  Type  Foundry's  office  a  stock-card 
is  used  (shown  reduced  in  the  illustration),  which,  as 
will  be  noted,  contains  but  88  numbers.  This  card  meas- 
ures 4x6  inches.  Where  a  great  number  of  packages  are 
to  be  used,  it  is  better  to  get  a  little  larger  card,  so  as  to 
contain  100  numbers.  It  is  unnecessary  in  most  cases  to 
have  a  hole  for  a  rod,  so  that  all  the  lower  space  may  be 


Package  No.  X Div.No.  ?3 

Received  _„ 3/%L 190  % 

CONTAINS 


Use  highest  numbered  package. 


utilized.  If  more  than  100  packages  are  to  be  used,  which 
is  seldom  the  case,  a  small  supply  of  additional  cards 
running  from  101  to  200  and  from  201  to  300  can  be  pro- 
cured. In  case  a  large  number  of  packages  are  received, 
two  or  three  cards  can  be  used,  each  bearing  the  same 
heading,  the  card  with  the  highest  number  being  placed 
on  top  and  the  cards  fastened  together  with  a  wire  clip. 
The  clerk  in  charge  of  the  stationery  and  other  matter 
looks  up  and  sees  where  there  is  space  in  the  cabinet  for 
the  fresh  consignment  (in  this  illustrative  case  Estimate 
Blanks),  and  then  puts  the  proper  letter  in  the  upper 
right-hand  corner  of  the  card  (P3).  A  little  experience 
will  soon  demonstrate  the  size  packages  which  are  re- 
quired for  each  instance,  the  cards  themselves  being  a 
fair  indication  as  to  how  rapidly  each  particular  kind  of 


92  -BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

stationery  is  used.  Each  label  has  not  only  a  description 
of  the  contents,  but  states  the  quantity  in  the  package, 
the  total  number  of  packages  and  the  number  of  the 
package.  The  stationery  clerk  has  rigid  instructions  to 
always  take  out  the  highest  numbered  package,  in  this 
case  No.  10.  After  the  entries  are  made  and  the  pack- 
ages put  away  on  their  proper  shelves,  the  cards  are  filed 
alphabetically  in  an  ordinary  indexed  card-tray.  If  any 
one  requires  stationery  of  any  particular  kind,  the  requisi- 
tion is  presented  to  the  clerk  who  has  it  in  charge  and  the 
proper  card  is  found  in  the  tray.  A  glance  shows  that  in 
this  case  there  are  8  packages  left,  consequently  the  clerk 
will  go  directly  to  the  cabinet,  and  take  out  of  Division 
P3  package  No.  8,  deliver  it  and  enter  the  date  on  the 
card.  While  so  doing,  this  clerk  glances  at  the  card  and 
notes  how  many  packages  are  remaining.  The  blank 
spaces  above  the  dates  show  this,  while  the  dates  them- 
selves show  how  many  packages  have  been  used.  By 
comparing  the  first  date  with  the  last,  the  quantity  used 
within  a  certain  time  is  easily  ascertained,  and  if  the 
stock  on  hand  is  running  short  an  order  is  made  out  for 
a  further  supply,  notation  being  made  on  the  face  of  the 
card  to  that  effect.  If  the  dates  of  the  old  card  (which 
is  kept  in  another  part  of  the  tray)  indicate  that  a  large 
quantity  is  used'  an  inquiry  is  made  if  the  same  piece  of 
stationery  is  likely  to  be  in  constant  use,  and  a  greater 
quantity  is  ordered.  If  the  dates  on  the  card  indicate 
that  the  amount  last  printed  is  sufficient  to  last  for  an 
extended  time,  a  lesser  quantity  is  ordered.  If  desired, 
in  addition  to  the  date,  room  may  be  left  on  the  card  for 
the  requisition  number,  or  another  column  may  be  added, 
in  which  a  letter  or  a  number  indicates  the  person  or 
department  to  whom  these  blanks  were  delivered,  and  in 
this  way  track  is  kept  of  where  the  goods  have  gone. 

Although  over  1,000  different  kinds  of  printed  matter 
are  kept  in  stock,  the  supply  is  kept  in  such  shape  that  it 
is  seldom  necessary  to  order  anything  in  a  very  great 
hurry.  The  proper  amount  is  ordered,  and  the  printer 
given  sufficient  time  to  get  it  out  in  presentable  style. 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  93 

Tools  and  Their  Care. 

EVERY  manufacturing  institution  and  practically 
every  mercantile  institution  is  obliged  to  include 
as  a  part  of  its  equipment  a  certain  investment  in 
tools.  In  the  case  of  a  mercantile  institution  this  invest- 
ment is  small,  and  with  the  value  of  tools  alone  to  be 
considered  it  would  hardly  seem  necessary  to  pay  much 
attention  to  their  care.  As  a  matter  of  fact  in  mercan- 
tile houses  the  value  of  the  tools  is  insignificant  com- 
pared to  the  waste  of  time  incidental  to  hunting  them  up 
when  they  are  needed.  No  part  of  the  permanent 
equipment  of  most  institutions  is  so  carelessly  used  or 
so  poorly  cared  for  as  these  same  tools,  and  in  an  insti- 
tution of  any  size  the  loss  through  carelessness  or  abuse 
of  tools  is  considerably  more  than  one  would  think, 
unless  the  matter  has  been  investigated.  No  mat- 
ter what  the  size  of  the  institution  or  what  the  amount 
involved  in  the  tool  equipment  the  responsibility  for  the 
care  and  preservation  of  the  tools  should  be  vested  in 
one  person,  this  person  to  be  made  responsible  for  the 
safe  keeping  of  all  tools  in  his  charge.  In  the  case  of  an 
establishment  large  enough  to  use  time  checks  for  its 
employes  the  time  check  may  be  deposited  with  the 
person  in  charge  of  the  tools  in  exchange  for  the  tool 
borrowed.  As  the  workman  cannot,  of  course,  enter 
his  time  without  the  check  he  will  naturally  make  it  a 
point  to  return  the  tool  and  get  his  check  back  again, 
and  the  man  in  charge  of  the  tools  will  see  that  no  check 
is  given  back  to  the  workman  without  the  return  of  the 
tool  it  represents. 

In  a  small  establishment  where  time  checks  are  not 
used  and  where  a  regular  tool  room  is  not  maintained 
it  will  be  sufficient  for  the  custodian  to  make  a  memo- 
randum of  the  name  of  the  borrower  of  the  tools,  the 
memorandum  to  be  canceled  when  the  tool  is  returned. 
At  intervals  the  tool  keeper  should  be  required  to  fur- 
nish an  inventory  of  all  tools,  which  inventory  should 
be  compared  with   the   original   inventory  and  the   dis- 


94  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

crepancies  explained  and  accounted  for.  In  every  case 
a  positive  rule  must  be  in  force  that  all  tools  of  every 
character  must  be  returned  by  the  borrower.  This  will 
not  only  prevent  unnecessary  loss  which  is  also  an 
amount  large  enough  for  consideration,  but  it  will  also 
result  in   the  saving  of  a  considerable  amount  of  time 


BORROW  SLIP. 


SMITH  &«  JONES'  TOOL  ROOM. 

Date 

Received  of 

Storekeeper — The  following  tools  which   I  agree  to 
become  responsible  for  until  safely  returned  by  me. 


Workman. 


wasted  in  hunting  for  tools  as  above  stated.  Where  no 
rules  of  this  sort  are  in  force  it  is  quite  customary  for  a 
workman  to  borrow  a  tool,  say  a  saw,  hammer  or  some 
similar  instrument  and  drop  it  just  where  he  ceased  to 
use  it,  and  the  next  man  who  wants  it  must  hunt  it  up, 
inquiring  from  man  to  man  who  had  it  last.  This  waste 
of  time  may  seem  to  be  very  small  but  after  all  it  is 
quite  an  item  in  a  small  establishment.  The  writer  has 
seen  enough  time  wasted  hunting  for  a  hammer  and 
saw  to  pay  for  the  tools  twice  over.  Time  is  money,  so 
have  a  place  for  your  tools  and  keep  them  in  that  place. 
A  suitable  rack  of  pigeon  holes  will  be  provided  for 
the  storage  of  tools  and  the  check  or  slip  identifying  the 
borrower  will  be  placed  in  the  space  from  which  the  tool 
was  taken. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  95 

A  Quick  System  for  Filling  Orders. 

IN  many  jobbing  concerns  a  great  deal  of  time  is 
wasted  in  filling  orders.  A  shoe  house  with  which 
the  writer  once  came  in  contact,  was  in  the  habit 
of  starting  all  orders  on  the  top  floor.  The  warehouse 
contained  five  floors  and  stock  men  and  helpers  were 
required  on  each  floor.  Nearly  every  order  received 
called  for  goods  stored  on  from  two  to  five  different 
floors.  As  a  result  of  starting  the  orders  on  the  top  floor, 
the  order  clerks  on  the  lower  floor  had  nothing  to  do 
in  the  morning  and  toward  night  they  had  more  than 
they  could  do  while  those  on  the  upper  floors  were  out 
of   work. 

To  overcome  the  difficulty  as  many  copies  of  the 
order  were  made  as  there  were  floors.  A  copy  of  the 
order  went  to  the  stock  man  on  each  of  these  floors  so 
he  could  get  his  part  of  the  goods  out  at  once,  sending 
them  to  the  shipping  room  where  the  order  was  assem- 
bled. The  next  copy  of  the  order  was  sent  to  the  ship- 
ping clerk  and  on  this  he  checked  the  goods  as  they  came 
to  him  from  the  different  floors  and  his  copy  would 
show  when  the  order  was  completed,  at  which  time  it 
could  be  packed  for  shipment. 


Handling  Cards. 

HERE  is  a  simple  but  effective  scheme  to  insure  the 
return  of  a  card  to  its  proper  place  in  the  file, 
when  it  has  been  removed  for  reference.  When 
you  take  a  card  from  the  file  it  often  happens  that  some 
one  else  refers  to  the  same  file  or  a  slight  jar  causes  the 
cards,  which  have  left  an  opening  where  you  have 
removed  the  card,  to  slide  together.  It  is  then  necessary 
to  finger  the  indexes  until  you  find  the  exact  place  where 
the  card  belongs. 


96  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  97 

The  next  time  you  remove  a  card  from  the  file,  pick 
up  with  it  the  next  card  back  and  as  you  remove  your 
card  allow  the  other  to  fall  back  into  the  tray  so  that 
it  strikes  on  one  corner  with  the  side  resting  on  the  edge 
of  the  tray,  as  shown  in  the  illustration. 

When  you  wish  to  return  the  card  to  the  file  all  that 
is  necessary  is  to  place  it  immediately  in  front  of  the 
card  with  the  corner  projecting. 


A  Safeguard  for  the  Correspondence  Files. 

IN  every  large  office  more  or  less  confusion  is  caused 
on  account  of  correspondence  being  out  of  the  files 
which  cannot  be  located  without  consulting  all  of  the 
people  who  are  accustomed  to  obtain  correspondence 
for  reference.  This  is  particularly  true  where  there 
are    several   correspondents. 

One  correspondent  sends  to  the  file  for  a  letter  of  a 
certain  date  from  John  Dow,  and  before  he  has  re- 
turned it,  some  other  department  wishes  to  consult 
the  same  letter.  The  filing  clerk,  as  a  rule,  does  not 
remember  to  whom  the  letter  was  given  and  knows  only 
that  it  is  not  in  the  files.  This  results  in  an  exasperating 
delay,  to  say  nothing  of  the  loss  of  time  in  searching 
for  the  letter. 

The  problem  of  keeping  track  of  correspondence 
when  it  is  out  of  the  files  has  been  satisfactorily  solved 
in  a  very  simple  manner  by  one  large  concern  with 
which   the   writer   is   familiar. 

t  Each  correspondent  who  has  the  authority  to  call 
for  letters  from  the  files  is  furnished  with  a  block  of 
slips,  like  Form  No.  i.  This  is  a  requisition  on  the 
filing  clerk  for  certain  correspondence.  This  is  filled 
in,  signed  and  dated  by  the  correspondent  and  sent  to 
the  files.  When  the  filing  clerk  delivers  the  correspond- 
ence, this  slip  is  placed  in  the  files  as  a  charge  against 
the  correspondent.  The  concern  in  question  uses  the 
vertical  filing  system  and  has  adopted  another  scheme 
to    make    this    system    even    more    simple. 


98  BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 

When  a  requisition  for  correspondence  is  received, 
the  filing  clerk  delivers  the  folder  with  all  of  the  cor- 
respondence, so  if  one  letter  does  not  give  the  desired 
information,  the  correspondent  will  have  before  him  all 
the  letters  bearing  on  the  subject. 

When  the  folder  is  taken  from  the  file,  another 
folder  of  color  which  is  a  strong  contrast  to  the  regular 
folders,  is  put  into  the  file  in  place  of  the  original,  and 
the  requisition  slip  is  placed  inside  of  this  colored  folder. 


J1Q- 


P/eose fot-Qi'si)    Corres/Doydeyce.    o"f:m 


Hfo 


As  manilla  is  the  color  usually  adopted  for  the  regular 
folders,  red  or  blue  is  a  good  color  for  the  special 
folders.  This  can  be  furnished  by  any  printer  cut  from 
very    ordinary    paper    stock. 

The  advantage  of  this  scheme  is  that  when  corres- 
pondence leaves  the  files,  the  filing  clerk  is  not  requested 
to  make  an  entry  to  trace  the  correspondence  but  has  a 
receipt  signed  by  the  person  to  whom  it  was  sent.  Care 
should  of  course  be  used  to  deliver  none  without  a  prop- 
erly signed  requisition. 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  99 

A  Reminder  Which  Will  Not  Be  Overlooked. 

AVERY  busy  man  who  is  at  the  head  of  three  or 
four  large  institutions  which  keep  him  away 
from  his  office  a  great  portion  of  the  time  has. 
adopted  a  plan  which  enables  him  to  have  presented 
at  his  desk  a  memorandum  which  may  come  to  him 
at  any  odd  moment  when  away  from  his  office.  He 
carries  in  his  pocket  a  supply  of  U.  S.  postal  cards, 
and  when  an  idea  strikes  him  he  jots  it  down  on  one  of 
these  cards  and  drops  it  into  the  next  mailing  box  he 
comes  to.  These  postal  cards  are  already  addressed  to 
him,  and  when  he  returns  to  the  office  they  are  there  to 
be  attended  to  in  due  course.  The  gentleman  in  ques- 
tion claims  that  this  is  the  best  scheme  he  has  ever  seen 
for  keeping  in  view  occasional  thoughts  which  would 
otherwise  be  lost  track  of  entirely  in  the  pressure  of 
other  and  larger  affairs. 


Loose  Leaf  Inventory  Taking. 

THE  annual  inventory  of  a  mercantile  or  manufac- 
turing concern  is  a  much  dreaded  job  as  a  general 
thing  and  especially  so  in  those  concerns  where 
a  "shut  down"  is  necessary  during  the  inventory's  pro- 
gress. The  usual  custom  is  to  use  a  number  of  blank 
books — one  or  more  for  each  department — pricing  and 
extending  the  items  when  the  inventory  is  complete. 
This  necessitates  a  delay  in  the  work  of  pricing  and 
extending  which  can  be  entirely  done  away  with  by  the 
use  of  loose  leaves  or  sheets. 

If  these  sheets  are  numbered  beforehand  there  is  no 
danger  of  the  loss  of  any  sheet  and  as  each  one  may  be 
sent  to  the  pricers  as  soon  as  complete  much  time  is 
saved.  By  the  use  of  this  method  the  final  figures  may 
be  ready  within  a  few  hours  of  the  time  when  the  last 
item   of   stock   is   entered. 

The  loose  sheets  are,  of  course,  bound  into  book 
form  for  preservation. 


100  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

On  Handling  Orders. 

IT  will  be  assumed  that  a  modern  mercantile  estab- 
lishment will  have  provided  a  means  for  the  prompt 
classification  and  distribution  of  all  incoming  mail 
so  that  mail  of  every  character  will  be  sent  at  cer- 
tain stated  times  of  the  day  to  the  proper  persons  for 
attention.  It  will  be  found  wise  to  arrange  that  mail 
be  delivered  at  the  various  desks  not  oftener  than  four 
times  a  day  except  in  special  cases. 

The  credit  man  for  instance  will  have  his  work 
simplified  if  orders  reach  him  at  certain  stated  times 
and  can  thus  be  looked  up  and  passed  upon  in  bunches. 
Where  orders  come  through  for  attention  one  or  two 
at  a  time  too  much  unnecessary  waste  of  valuable  time 
results.  The  first  step  in  handling  the  order  is  the 
authorization  of  credit  by  the  credit  manager.  In  order 
to  preserve  a  proper  routine  all  orders,  even  cash  and 
C.  O.  D.  orders,  should  follow  the  same  course  as  a 
credit  transaction.  It  might  easily  chance  that  certain 
circumstances  would  make  it  inadvisable  that  an  order 
should  be  filled  even  though  it  be  cash  or  C.  O.  D.  Every 
mercantile  institution  has  had  experience  with  the  man 
who  orders  goods  C.  O.  D.  and  then  allows  them  to  be 
returned,  thus  throwing  the  charges  both  ways  upon 
the  shipper.  A  rubber  stamp  can  be  used  for  authoriz- 
ing credit,  and  the  sketch  shown  below  indicates  a  pro- 
posed form. 

In  some  instances  this  form  can  be  printed  on  the 
order  blank,  but  if  orders  are  put  up  or  entered  from' 
the  original  as  written  by  the  customer  a  slip  of  paper 
gummed  on  one  corner  can  be  provided  in  place  of  the 
rubber  stamp.  This  is  often  found  more  convenient 
than  the  stamp  for  the  reason  that  in  the  case  of  the 
printed  slip  it  can  be  attached  to  the  order  always  in 
the  same  position  whereas  there  might  not  be  a  blank 
space  convenient  for  the  placing  of  the  stamp.  If  the 
order  is  one  demanding  special  attention  in  the  way  of 
a  hurried  shipment  the  slip  used  may  be  printed  on  red 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  101 

paper,  having  it  understood  in  the  establishment  that 
all  orders  bearing  the  red  credit  slip  will  receive  imme- 
diate attention.  Care  must  be  taken,  however,  that  this 
red  slip  be  used  only  when  haste  is  imperative,  for  the 
effect  of  the  slip  will  be  lost  if  it  is  used  indiscriminately. 
Of  course  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  go  through 
the  full  investigation  of  all  orders.  Many  of  the  orders 
passing  through  the  credit  manager's  hands  will  at  once 
be  recognized  as  unworthy  of  credit  without  investiga- 
tion, while  others  must  necessarily  go  to  the  accounting 
department  for  data  before  the  order  is  filled.  The  form 
provides  for  a  statement  from  the  accounting  depart- 
ment as  to  the  amount  the  purchaser  now  owes,  the  pro- 
portion of  this  which  is  due,  the  highest  credit,  or  the 
largest  amount  his  account  has  reached  during  the  year. 
The  next  line  lettered  SHIP:  is  intended  to  bear  special 
instructions  in  case  the  credit  manager  desires  to  instruct 
C.  O.  D.  shipment.  The  last  line  is  to  bear  the  credit 
man's  O.  K.  and  initials  in  case  he  decides  to  authorize 
shipment. 


To  Finger  Cards  Rapidly. 

MANY  people  know  nothing  about  handling  cards 
rapidly."  The  result  is  that  many  of  them  will 
insist  that  cards  cannot  be  as  quickly  handled  as 
the  leaves  of  a  book. 

In  many  places  where  card  indexes  are  used  it  is 
necessary  to  count  the  cards.  To  count  them  in  the 
drawer  or  to  handle  each  one  separately  is  a  slow  and 
unsatisfactory  method.  They  can  be  counted  very 
quickly,  however,  if  a  small  handful  is  taken  out  at  a 
time. 

First  see  that  the  bunch  of  cards  is  even  just  as 
you  would  "even"  a  pack  of  playing  cards  before  shuf- 
fling. 

Grasp  the  cards  firmly,  with  .both  hands,  one  hand 
at  each  end  of  the  bunch,  holding  them  between  the 
thumb   and  fingers. 


102 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  193 

With  a  slight  motion  of  the  fingers  "travel"  the 
cards  until  the  end  of  each  projects  just  a  little  beyond  the 
next  card  above  it. 

The  cards  may  then  be  "snapped"  one  at  a  time, 
slowly  or  rapidly — for  counting  or  to  refer  to  a  name 
or  number. 

Try  this  as  shown  in  the  illustration  and  see  how 
quickly  you  can  refer  to  every  one  of  a  bunch  of  25  or 
30. 


Labor  Saving  Ledger  Card  Index. 

FROM   the   illustration    hereto    appended,  the   advan- 
tage of  this  card  index  system  is  apparent,  the  same 
card  covering  a   period  of  forty-eight  years,  being 
ruled  and  printed  on  both  sides. 


A  Quick  Collection  System. 

A  CHICAGO  concern  collects  a  large  number  of 
small  debts  at  a  very  trifling  cost  by  practically 
acting  as  its  own  legal  collector. 
By  paying  a  young  attorney  a  modest  monthly  fee 
they  get  the  privilege  of  using  his  name,  keeping  con- 
stantly on  hand  a  supply  of  stationery  with  his  imprint. 
A  threatening  letter  from  an  attorney  sometimes  works 
wonders  and  by  this  means  the  effect  is  produced  at  very 
small  cost,  as  the  letter  to  the  debtor  is  sent  from  the 
concern's  home  office,  being  dictated  by  the  regular  col- 
lection manager,  simply  using  the  attorney's  stationery. 
Should  it  be  found  necessary  a  little  later  to  commence 
suit  against  the  party  the  attorney  in  question  com- 
mences the  suit,  but  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  a  letter 
or  two  written  on  the  attorney's  letter  head  produces  the 
desired  effect. 


104 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  105 

Efficient  Method  of  Paying  Employes 
in  Large  Factories. 

EVERY  person  when  entering  the  employ  of  the 
concern  is  obliged  to  give  his  or  her  pedigree  to 
the  doorkeeper,  which  is  duly  recorded  on  an  em- 
ployment blank,  and  at  the  same  time  the  person  is  given 
a  brass  check  with  the  number  corresponding  to  number 
on  the  employment  book.  (This  number  and  check  is 
retained  by  the  employe  until  he  leaves,  is  discharged  or 
transferred  to  another  department.)  The  employe  is  also 
given  a  small  slip  printed  thereon,  "This  check  will  be 
considered  a  receipt  for  your  envelope  on  pay  day  and 
under  no  circumstances  will  envelope  be  delivered  with- 
out it.  In  case  this  check  is  lost,  a  new  one  will  cost 
fifteen  cents." 

The  blank  after  having  been  O.  K.'d  by  the  superin- 
tendent or  other  proper  person  is  immediately  sent  to  the 
office  and  the  employe's  name  is  then  recorded  on  the 
pay  roll  book  and  blank  filed. 

Have  the  pay  roll  book  so  arranged  as  to  keep  de- 
partments separate,  for  when  making  same  up  this  will 
enable  you  to  keep  department  envelopes  entirely  separate 
and  greatly  facilitate  paying  off."  Start  at  one  end  of 
the  room  and  go  from  person  to  person  without  their 
leaving  their  machines  or  any  other  particular  work, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  when  the  paymaster  makes  his 
appearance  everyone  will  have  his  check  ready  for  his 
envelope. 

Before  starting  to  pay  count  the  envelopes  and  when 
through  the  paymaster  must  return  a  check  for  each  en- 
velope given  out,  otherwise  he  must  return. the  envelopes. 

After  the  checks  are  returned  to  office  they  are 
given  to  the  doorkeeper,  who  will  arrange  same  numeri- 
cally before  the  morning,  and  as  each  employe  enters  he 
is  given  his  check. 


106  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

A   System  for  Supplanting  the  Purchase   Ledger. 

MANY  of  our  best,  largest  and  most  modern  busi- 
ness houses  have  entirely  done  away  with  the 
keeping  of  a  purchase  ledger.  These  concerns 
do  not  open  an  account  with  any  of  the  people  from 
whom  they  purchase  goods.  It  is  their  custom  to  dis- 
count every  bill  wherever  a  cash  discount  is  allowed,  and 
have  assumed  that  no  check  is  needed  on  the  account 
payable,  arguing  that  if  an  account  is  overlooked  the 
man  to  whom  it  is  due  will  very  promptly  call  attention 
to  the  oversight.  If  a  bill  is  presented  which  is  incor- 
rect, instead  of  making  a  debit  against  the  concern  from 
whom  the  goods  were  purchased  the  bill  is  returned  for 
correction,  a  memorandum  being  kept  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  bill  should  finally  be  submitted.  They  thus 
do  away  with  an  enormous  amount  of  ledger  work 
which  the  old  fashion  of  opening  accounts  with  each 
of  the  parties  through  whom  goods  are  purchased  entails. 

A  Quick  Method  of  Making  Statements. 

WHERE  a  typewriter  is  used  in  making  out  state- 
ments of  account  it  is  easy  to  provide  for  ad- 
dressing an  envelope  at  the  same  time  the  state- 
ment is  addressed  by  inserting  in  the  machine,  with  the 
statement,  an  envelope  and  placing  between  the  state- 
ment and  the  envelope  a  sheet  of  carbon  paper.  Thus 
the  address  is  written  on  the  statement  and  the  envelope 
at  the  same  time  the  statement  heading  is  written,  sav- 
ing the  extra  time  which  is  usually  consumed  in  address- 
ing envelopes  in  which  to  mail  or  deliver  the  statements. 
An  indelible  pencil  or  stiff  pointed  pen  can  be  used  in 
place  of  the  typewriter  by  using  specially  prepared  car- 
bon paper  which  can  be  obtained  from  any  office  supply 
house.  This  carbon  paper  is  extra  soft  and  will  make  a 
good  clear  carbon  copy  amply  sufficient  for  the  address 
on  the  envelope.  In  case  a  collection  card  is  used  as 
well,  it  can  also  be  made  at  the  same  time  as  statement, 
making  all  three  copies  at  once  by  the  use  of  a  book  type- 
writer. 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  107 

A  Scheme  to  Insure  the  Prompt  Handling  of  Cor- 
respondence. 

IN  all  concerns  of  any  considerable  magnitude,  where 
correspondence    must    necessarily    pass    through    the 
hands  of  several  departments,  the  problem  of  dispos- 
ing of  it  quickly  is  one  that  requires  no  little  attention. 

It  has  been  the  writer's  experience  that  all  large 
concerns  receive  a  greater  or  less  number  of  com- 
plaints relative  to  the  delay  in  answering  letters.  These 
complaints  for  the  most  part  come  from  individuals 
who  are  accustomed  to  receive  but  a  small  amount  of 
mail.  The  man  who  writes  one  letter  a  week  is  the 
most  impatient  if  he  does  not  receive  a  reply  by  return 
mail.  It  is  usually  the  case  that  the  delay  is  entirely  due 
to  his  own  lack  of  method.  He  will  send  a  remittance 
and  in  the  same  letter  refer  to  an  unfilled  order  and  ask 
for  prices  on  another  line  of  goods.  He  does  not  stop 
to  think  that  this  letter  must  be  handled  by  three  differ- 
ent departments,  each  of  which  will  attend  to  one  of  the 
three  subjects  covered  by  the  letter,  and  if  he  does  not 
receive  full  information  by  return  mail,  he  concludes 
that  his  correspondence  has  been  neglected. 

Inasmuch  as  we  cannot  educate  our  customers  and 
insist  on  their  using  a  separate  sheet  for  each  separate 
subject,  it  becomes  necessary  to  overcome  the  difficulty 
so  far  as  possible  in  our  own  office. 

Numerous  schemes  have  been  tried,  such  as  making 
copies  of  the  letters  and  referring  these  copies  to  the 
various  departments  interested.  One  of  the  best 
schemes  of  which  we  know,  is  that  adopted  by  one  of  the 
big  western  mail  order  houses.  This  concern  has  a  large 
number  of  correspondents  and  each  one  is  given  a  num- 
ber, and  in  the  house,  he  is  always  known  by  that 
number. 

In-coming  mail  is  opened  and  sorted  by  a  clerk  who 
reads  every  letter  to  see  to  what  department  it  belongs. 
On  each  letter  is  placed  the  number  of  the  department  so 


108       •  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

that  when  distributed,  the  correspondence  will  go  to  the 
proper   person. 

When  a  letter  requests  the  attention  of  two  or  more 
departments,  the  mail  clerk  determines  which  is  of  first 
importance  and  then  places  the  numbers  of  the  depart- 
ments on  the  letter  in  the  order  of  their  importance. 
For  instance,  if  a  letter  contains  a  remittance,  the  cash- 
ier will  be  the  first  one  to  whom  it  is  sent.  These 
letters  which  bear  two  or  more  numbers  are  kept 
by  themselves  and  delivered  separately  from  the  other 
correspondence.  After  being  sorted  by  departments,  the 
letters  are  delivered  by  a  messenger  and  it  is  the  duty 
of  each  correspondent  to  first  attend  to  those  letters 
which  bear  other  department  numbers  so  that  no  other 
department  need  be  held  up  through  any  fault  of  his. 
The  stenographers  are  also  instructed  to  immediately 
write  the  answers  to  these  letters  and  return  them  to 
the  correspondent.  The  carbon  copy  of  the  reply  is 
attached  to  the  letter  which  is  then  placed  in  a  messen- 
ger basket,  on  the  desk  of  the  correspondent.  The  mes- 
senger comes  around  once  every  hour  and  collects  all 
mail  from  these  baskets,  and  after  sorting,  delivers  it  to 
the  proper  department. 

With  this  system  it  is  very  seldom  that  a  letter 
requiring  the  attention  of  several  departments  is  held 
over  night.  Another  feature  of  advantage  is  the  fact 
that  when  the  correspondent  receives  a  letter  which  has 
been  handled  by  another  department  he  has  before  him 
the  reply  which  gives  him  full  information  as  to  what 
has  been  done.  Very  often  the  manner  in  which  a  letter 
is  handled  by  one  department  will  have  an  important 
bearing  on  its  handling  by  another. 

The  expense  of  this  scheme  is  so  small  that  it  need 
hardly  be  considered  special  in  view  of  the  saving  of 
time   in   the  handling  of  correspondence. 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  109 

A  Few  Pointers  in  Regard  to  Prommissory  Notes. 

PRESENTMENT  for  payment  is  not  necessary  in 
order  to  charge  the  person  primarily  liable  on  the 
instrument,  but  when  payable  at  a  specified  place 
if  not  presented,  the  debtor  cannot  be  held  responsible 
for  any  damages  or  costs  on  account  of  failure  to  make 
such  presentment. 

When  payable  on  demand  presentment  must  be 
made   within   a    reasonable   time   after   issue. 

A  sufficient  presentment  is  that  made  by  the  holder, 
or  a  person  duly  authorized  to  receive  payment  on  his 
behalf  at  a  reasonable  hour,  on  a  business  day,  and  at  a 
proper  place.  If  the  person  primarily  liable  is  absent, 
or  inaccessible,  presentment  may  be  made  in  person  at 
the  place  specified  for  payment. 

Where  no  place  of  payment  is  named,  presentment 
should  be  made  either  at  place  of  business  or  residence 
of  person  primarily  liable. 

If  the  maker  removes  to  another  place  within  the 
state  in  which  the  note  was  issued,  the  holder  is  bound 
to  make  presentment  at  that  place. 

In  the  case  of  a  note  made  and  dated  in  New  York, 
the  maker  then  residing  in  Florida  and  not  having 
changed  his  residence  at  maturity,  HELD  that  demand 
must  be  made  of  the  maker  in  Florida  in  order  to  change 
the  indorser. 

Presentment  must  be  made  upon  the  day  the  paper 
is  due.  Presentment  either  before  or  after  maturity  is  a 
nullity. 

An  acceptance  is  not  good  unless  completed  by  deliv- 
ery. Only  those  who  have  the  title  to  an  instrument 
can  transfer  it,  and  if  held  by  several  jointly,  all  must 
join  in  the  transfer,  unless  one  holder  is  authorized 
by    all    to    do    so. 

No  one  but  the  drawee  can  accept  a  draft  unless 
specially   authorized. 

Q  Acceptance    may    be    conditional,    partial,    local     or 
qualified  as  to  time. 


110  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

(i)  Conditional,  making  payment  by  the  acceptor 
dependent  upon  the  fulfillment  of  a  condition  therein 
stated.  As  the  following,  written  across  a  draft:  "Ac- 
cepted— payable  on  surrender  of  bills  of  lading  for  cot- 
ton, per  ship  'America.' "  Or,  again,  "Accepted — pay- 
able when  in  funds." 

(2)  Partial,  or  restricted  as  to  amount.  As,  A. 
draws  on  B.  for  $100;  B.  accepts  as  to  $50.  Or,  A. 
draws  a  draft  on  B.  for  $100;  B.  accepts  it  payable  $50 
in  cash  and  $50  in  goods.  This  would  be  good  as  to  the 
cash,  but  not  as  to  the  goods. 

(3)  Local,  or  restricted  as  to  place  of  payment.  As, 
draft  addressed  to  "B.,  of  Utica,"  and  it  is  accepted  pay- 
able   at    Syracuse,    N.    Y. 

(4)  Qualified  as  to  time.  As,  A.  draws  on  B., 
payable  in  two  months  after  date;  B.  accepts,  payable  in 
three  months  after  date. 


A  "Goods  Wanted"  Register. 

EVERY  retail  merchant  at  some  time  starts  to  keep 
a  "Want  Book"  in  which  he  proposes  to  make  a 
memorandum  of  the  goods  which  are  needed,  so 
they  can  be  ordered  when  the  next  salesman  calls 
on  him.  I  say  starts  to  keep,  for  the  reason  that  this 
book    is    seldom    kept    up. 

The  reason  is  that  he  has  no  means  of  classifying 
these  items  and  when  the  salesman  calls  it  is  about  as 
much  trouble  to  pick  out  the  items  from  a  book  as  it  is 
to  obtain  the  same  information  by  looking  over  the  stock. 

This  can  be  very  easily  handled  by  the  use  of  cards. 
Whenever  stock  of  any  kind  has  run  low,  make  a  note 
of  it  on  a  3x5-inch  card  or  slip  of  paper  cut  the  same 
size,  then  file  this  card  or  slip  in  a  card  file.  One  of 
the  small  desk  boxes  will  answer  the  purpose,  or  a  home 
made   box   may  be   used. 

This  file  should  be  provided  with  blank  indexes  on 
which  are  written  the  different  departments  or  different 
classes    of    goods    required,    arranging    these    as    far   as 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  111 


possible  to  conform  to  the  lines  carried  by  the  jobbers 
with  whom  the  merchant  is  dealing.  For  instance,  the 
general  store  would  have  one  index  headed  "shoes"  and 
another  headed  "groceries."  These  departments  would 
very  likely  be  subdivided  as  all  of  the  goods  are  not 
bought  from  the  same  house. 

Where  certain  houses  are  favored  for  certain  lines  of 
goods,  it  is  well  to  have  an  index  headed  with  the  name 
of  each  of  these  concerns.  When  a  salesman  for  John- 
son &  Co.,  from  whom  you  buy  crockery  calls,  you  will 
find  behind  the  index  headed  "Johnson  &  Co.,"  cards 
showing  what   is  needed  in  his  line. 

In  the  meantime,  a  salesman  from  another  crockery 
concern  calls  and  offers  some  very  attractive  prices. 
You  will  have  no  difficulty  in  remembering  that  you 
have  been  buying  crockery  from  Johnson  &  Co.,  and 
can  immediately  refer  to  those  cards. 

One  advantage  of  a  card  index  of  such  a  record  as 
this  is,  it  is  never  filled  up  with  dead  matter.  When  the 
goods  are  ordered,  simply  destroy  the  card.  This  frees 
the  files  from  dead  matter  and  gives  you  only  the  infor- 
mation   desired. 


112 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


A  Cross  Index. 

THERE  are  many  records  which  are  necessary  to 
be  cross  indexed,  that  is,  indexed  in  two  or  more 
ways.  As  an  illustration,  take  a  collection  card 
or  instalment  card  in  the  follow-up  system.  Two  things 
must  be  known,  the  name  of  the  debtor  or  customer,  and 
the  date  on  which  the  card  should  be  given  attention. 

If  the  cards  are  filed  in  the  alphabetical  index  it 
becomes  necessary  to  look  through  all  of  the  cards  every 
day  in  order  that  none  requiring  attention  be  over- 
looked. On  the  other  hand  if  they  are  filed  in  a  monthly 
and  daily  index  under  the  date  on  which  they  should 
receive  attention,  we  cannot  find  a  given  name  without 
looking  through  all  of  the  cards. 

These  records  may  be  easily  cross  indexed  by  the 
use  of  tabs.     There  are  two  ways  of  doing  this. 

First— Have  the  cards  themselves  made  with  tabs  cut 
1-20  the  width  of  the  card  and  with  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  printed  on  these  tabs.  This  provides  for  twenty 
divisions  of  the  alphabet,  letter  "A"  being  on  the  first 
tab  at  the  left  of  the  card  and  the  letters  "X>  Y,  Z"  on 
the  last  tab  at  the  right  end  of  the  card. 


NAME. 

J.N.  Adar^-t-Co. 

ADDRE.5S        „ 

Jbuffalo,  N.Y 

DATE.    INVOICE. 

TERMS 

Ntt3o  -  2^0-10 

DATE.    DUE. 

AMOUNT 

STATEMENT                                 2^  Notice 

^  Notice 

SPECIAL    LE.TTE.R5 

}■„ 

Pay  me.nt5 

FINAL  DISPOSITION 

BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  113 

In  entering  the  names,  select  a  card  bearing  a  tab 
that  corresponds  to  the  first  letter  in  the  customer's 
name.  That  is,  "Jones"  would  be  entered  on  the  card 
with  the  "J"  tab.  You  can  then  file  the  cards  according 
to  date  and  to  find  Mr.  Jones'  card,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  refer  to  the  row  of  "J"  tabs  until  the  right  card  is 
found. 

Second — Another  method  contemplates  the  use  of  a 
simple  adjustable  metal  tab  which  can  now  be  obtained 
from  almost  any  stationer.  These  metal  tabs  can  be 
placed  on  the  cards  at  any  point  and  removed  at  will. 
The  cards  may  be  without'  tabs,  but  across  the  upper 
edge  there  should  be  printed  a  series  of  numbers  from 
i  to'3i. 


/2J4-56739  1011  ni3M5MI1  It  11  20  21  22  231+75  2L  77  212130  51 


NAME.  FOLIO 


AbbRE.55 


DATE.    INVOICE.  TERMS 


These  numbers  are  intended  to  represent  the  days 
of  the  month.  If  a  card  will  require  attention  on  the 
16th  of  the  month,  one  of  these  metal  tabs  is  placed 
over  No.  16,  and  the  card  may^then  be  filed  in  an  alpha- 
betical index  under  the  name  of  the  customer. 

The  card  of  any  customer  is  then  quickly  located 
and  the  tabs  themselves  indicate  just  what  cards  should 
receive  attention  each  day.  These  metal  tabs  may  also 
be  used  to  advantage  in  books.  Ledgers  are  sometimes 
arranged  with  one  of  these  daily  indexes  across  the 
top  of  the  sheet  and  the  tabs  are  placed  in  a  position  to 
show  when  the  accounts  are  due. 


114  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

Short  Cuts  for  Users  of  Printing. 

THE  average  business  man  knows  very  little  about 
buying  printing.  He  takes  the  printer's  word  for 
it  in  the  majority  of  cases,  with  the  natural  con- 
sequence that  he  knows  nothing  about  whether  he  is 
being  overcharged  or  not.  Going  on  the  general  princi- 
ple that  "there  is  no  bottom  to  the  price  of  printing,"  he 
either  makes  the  error  of  depending  on  low  price  as  a 
criterion  and  therefore  yielding  the  temptation  of  paying 
less  than  a  thing  is  worth,  and  putting  the  printer  in  the 
position  of  giving  him  less  than  he  pays  for;  or,  with 
the  idea  of  getting  as  far  away  from  error  as  possible, 
he   overpays. 

The  buyer  of  printing  should  know  something  about 
paper  stock;  he  should  know  something  about  the  prices 
of  paper,  and  a  few  simple  rules  about  how  to  make  up 
a  book  so  his  catalogue  may  be  put  up  in  decent  shape. 


NUMBER  OF  WORDS   IN  A   SQUARE  INCH. 

In  calculating  the  amount  of  space  the  manuscript 
will  occupy,  the  following  little  table  will  prove  accurate 
enough  for  ordinary  estimation: 

WORDS   TO   SQUARE  INCH. 

Pearl,    leaded    50 

Pearl,    solid    «.  . .  .  69 

Nonpareil,    leaded     34 

Nonpareil,     solid     . . . . ; 47 

Minion,    leaded     27 

Minion,    solid     38 

Brevier,  leaded   23 

Brevier,    solid    32 

Bourgeois,    leaded    21 

Bourgeois,   solid    28 

Long   Primer,    leaded    16 

Long  Primer,   solid    21 

Small    Pica,    leaded    , 14 

Small    Pica,   solid    17 

Pica,    leaded    11 

Pica,  solid   14 

English .  11 

Great    Primer,    solid . . .  7 

Double    Small    Pica    4 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


115 


THE  SIZE  OF  AN  EM. 

In  measuring  type  the  printer  charges  so  much  per  em 
in  everything  excepting  display  job  work.  This  price  per 
em  is  computed  by  a  standard  of  measurement  adopted 
by  printers.  An  em  is  the  square  of  the  letter  m  of  the 
size  of  type  used  in  the  composition. 

SHIPPING    TAGS. 

In  ordering  shipping  tags  it  is  well  to  specify  sizes 
already  in  stock,  as  otherwise  there  will  be  an  extra 
charge  for  special  manufacturing.  The  following  table 
shows  the  standard  sizes: 

INCHES. 

No.  1  1^x2^ 

No.  2  154x254 

No.  3  1^x354 

No.  4  .* 2^x454 

No.  5  2^x4^4 

No.  6  2Vsx5y2 

No.  7  2^x6 

No.  8 3^x6^4 

TABLE  FOR  ORDERING  RULED  HEADINGS  SUCH  AS  BILL  HEADS, 
LETTER   HEADS,   ETC. 


RULED  HEADS, 

Nos. 

Size  in  inches 

Rul. 
Pens 

No.  Cut 
Full  R'm 

Size  Cut 
From 

Bill  Heads 

Bill  Heads 

2's 
3's 

4's 
6's 
8's 
4's 
4's 
8:s 
8's 
8's 
8's 
12' s 
6's 
8's 
24' s 
12's 

8^x14 
8'V2x   9^ 
8^x   7 
8%x   4% 
8%  x    3^ 
8%  xll 
8     xlO^ 
85*  x   5K 
6     x^ 
5^x    8% 
5^x    8% 
VA  x    5% 
5%  xll 
5^  x    8% 
6     x    3H 
8j4x    3% 

4 
4 
4 
3 
2 
7 
7 
7 
5 
5 
3 
3 
3 
3 
3 
^    3 

1,000 
1,500 
2,000 
3,000 
4,000 
2,000 
2,000 
4,000 
4,000 
4,000 
4,000 
6,000 
3,000 
4,000 
12,000 
6,000 

14x17 
14x17 
14x17 
14x17 
14x17 
17  x22 
16x21 
17x22 
19x24 
17x22 
17x22 
17x22 
17x22 
17x22 
19x24 
17x22 

Bill  Heads 

Bill  Heads 

Bill  Heads 

Letter  Heads 

Letter  Heads 

Mem.  Heads 

Packet  Note  Heads. 
Com.  Note  Heads. .. 

Statements,  short... 

Statements,  long: 

Statements,  H.  &T. 
Statements,  Infant.. 
Statements,  Yankee. 

116 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


Sometimes  the  office  man  in  ordering  ruled  headings 
will  make  an  odd  size  that  requires  a  great  waste  of 
paper  in  cutting  up  the  stock.  The  appended  table  will  be 
useful  in  assisting  him  to  place  his  order. 

In  the  foregoing  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
ruling  is  noted  as  the  number  of  "pens."  A  "pen"  is 
the  unit  of  measure  by  which  distance  between  the  lines 
is  measured.  This  will  be  found  standard,  and  is 
adopted  by  printers  throughout  the  United  States. 

EMS    IN    A    SQUARE    INCH. 

In  setting  up  descriptive  matter  for  advertisements, 
especially  in  long  descriptions,  the  printer  generally 
charges  so  much  per  thousand  ems.  It  is  essential 
therefore  for  the  advertiser  to  know  how  to  measure  up 
his  copy  to  be  able  to  O.  K.  the  bill.  Measure  the  width 
of  the  matter,  then  the  length  of  it;  that  will  give  you 


Square 
Inch 

iy2  Pt. 

Diamond 

5  Pt. 
Pearl 

5V2  Pt. 
Agate 

6  Pt. 
Nonpareil 

7  Pt. 
Minion 

1 

256 

208 

176 

144 

.106 

Square 
Inch 

8  Pt. 
Brevier 

9  Pt. 
Bourgeois 

10  Pt. 
L.  P. 

11  Pt. 
Small  Pica 

12  Pt. 

Pica 

1 

81 

64 

52 

44 

36 

the  number  of  square  inches ;.  multiply  the  number  of 
square  inch  by  the  number  of  ems  in  a  square  inch  ac- 
cording to  the  following  table,  first  getting  the  size  of  the 
tvoe  from  the  printer. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


117 


SIZES    OF    ENVELOPES. 


Envelopes  come  in  the  following  standard  sizes,  and 
any  manufacturer  handles  these  sizes: 


tnches 


Inches 


Inches 


No.    2 


..2V2x  1% 

3     2%x  i% 

4    2%  x  5^ 

5     3/8x  f>% 

6     m  x  6 

6J* 3^x  6 

6^ 3%  x  6J^ 

6% 3^x  V/2 

7     3%x  6K 

8% 3^x  8% 

9  4   x  m 

10  4J4x    9^ 

11  4^x10% 

12  4%xll 

14  5     xll^2 


Baronial 

No.  4 3^x4^ 

"     5 VAxbVs 

Coin 

No.  1 2%xi% 

"     2 2%xi%. 

"     3 2%x4% 

"     5 3^x5% 

Drug 

No.  1 1^x2% 

"     2 2     xSK 

"     3 2^x3^ 

Photograph 

Cabt 4^x7% 

Imp'l  5^x7M 


Pay 

No.    2 2J£x   4J< 

Policy 

No.    9 iyax   9 

"     10 4^x   9% 

"     11 4^x10^ 

"     12 4^x11 

Portfolio 

No.    1 4^x8% 

"       3 ,...6/8x9M 

'•      4 6^x9^ 

Safety  Express 

No.    9 3%x8% 

"     10 Wx9y2 


The  quality  of  an  envelope  depends  entirely  upon 
the  quality  of  paper.  The  X  is  40-pound  paper;  XX  50- 
pound  paper;  XXX  60-pound  paper,  the  size  of  the 
sheet  being  22^x30  out  of  which  envelopes  are  cut. 


SCALE    OF    SIZES    OF    CUT    CARDS. 


Nos. 

Sizes  in  Inches 

No.  Cuts  to 
Sheet 

Sheet  Required  J 
tocutlOOOcards 

1 

3     xlH 

112 

9 

2 

V/2x\  13-16 

98 

11 

3 

8  7-16  x  2  1-16 

80 

13 

4 

3%x2  1-16 

70 

15 

5 

3K  x  2  5-16 

63 

16 

4x2  5-16 

55 

19 

7 

4     x  2  9-16 

50 

20 

8 

i%  x  2  9-16 

48 

21 

9 

4^x2  13-16 

42 

24 

10 

5/8x4 

36 

28 

,       11 

53/i  X  33/8 

32 

32 

12 

3  3-16  x  1 13-16 

88 

12 

13 

4     x  2  1-16 

60 

17 

Card  board  comes  in  sheets  22x38  in  size,  and  different 
sizes  of  cards  are  cut  from  these  sheets.  The  following 
table  will  show  how  these  cards  are  cut  and  the  number 
that  can  he  cut  of  the  different  sizes  from  each  sheet; 


118  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

also  the  number  of  sheets  required  to  furnish  iooo  cards 
of  each  size. 

It  is  of  advantage  to  the  user  of  printing  sometimes 
to  buy  his  own  stock  which  he  can  often  do  at  a  consid- 
erable discount  from  the  wholesaler  or  manufacturer. 

STYLE  OF  ENGRAVING  IN  GENERAL  USE  IN  ADVERTISING. 

There  are  four  styles  of  engravings  in  general  use 
in  advertising, — half-tones,  zinc  etchings,  electrotypes 
and  stereotypes. 

HALF-TONES. 

Half-tones  are  made  direct  from  photographs 
or  other  copy  and  are  exact  reproductions  in  black 
and  white  of  the  copy.  The  half-tone  is  repro- 
duced by  a  mechanical  process  whereby  in  transferring 
the  photograph  to  a  copper  plate  the  photograph  is  made 
through  a  screen.  On  all  half-tones  will  be  noticed  the 
little  dots  and  lines  which  is  the  screen  used  in  the 
reproduction.  For  use  in  newspapers  the  half-tone  is 
made  through  a  65-line  screen,  or  at  most  a  75-line 
screen,  will  give  the  best  results.  For  ordinary  maga- 
zines printed  on  a  superfinished  paper  a  no  or  a  120-line 
screen  may  be  used.  For  highly  enamelled  paper  130  or 
150-line  screen  is  generally  used.  Screens,  however,  are 
made  up  to  as  high  as  300  lines.  As  the  screen  gets  finer 
the  result  is  softer  and  more  difficult  to  print,  requiring 
that  the  very  highest  grade  of  enamelled  paper  be  used 
for  the  200-line  screen. 

Half-tones  are  generally  used  for  reproduction  of 
photographs,  wash  drawings,  oil  paintings,  photogra- 
vures and  steel  engravings.  The  copy  from  which  the 
half-tone  is  made  must  be  absolutely  free  from  all 
cracks,  spots  or  other  defects  as  the  half-tone  is  a  photo- 
graphic reproduction  of  the  copy. 

ZINC    ETCH-NGS. 

A  zinc  etching  is  the  simplest  mechanical  method 
of     reproducing     copy.     It    will    not    take     copy,     how- 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  119 

ever,  like  photographs  where  there  are  many  half 
tones,  or  light  shadows.  Zinc  etching  will  simply  repro- 
duce black  and  white  and  no  gray  effects  can  be  obtained, 
therefore  copy  for  zinc  etching  should  be  made  in  what 
is  known  as  line  drawing.  It  will  reproduce  black  lines 
or  black  dots,  but  not  wash  or  photographic  half-tones. 
The  copy  should  always  be  made  in  black  and  white  and 
not  in  any  other  color  as  zinc  etchings  are  made  from 
photographic  wet  plates  which  will  not  take  pink  or  blue 
or  any  of  the  colors  of  the  spectrum  so  well  as  it  will 
take   arbitrary  black. 

ELECTROTYPES. 

Electrotypes  are  simply  either  a  reproduction  of  half- 
tone or  zinc  plate  made  by  means  of  a  mold  being  made 
of  the  original  and  t-hen  the  metal  being  poured  into  the 
mold  and  a  reproduction  being  made  that  way. 

STEREOTYPES. 

Stereotyping  is  the  cheapest  method  of  reproducing 
from  plates.  Cuts  from  which  stereotypes  are  to  be  made 
should  always  have  metal  base.  Stereotypes  are  fre- 
quently used  in  newspaper  advertising. 

COST   OF  ENGRAVINGS. 

Half-tones  cost  from  20  to  25c  a  square  inch:  the 
minimum  price  of  small  cuts  being  from  $2  to  $3. 

Zinc  etchings  cost  from  5  to  yc  per  square  inch: 
the  minimum  price  of  small  plates  is  from  50  to  75c. 

Electrotypes  cost  from  2  to  4c  per  square  inch:  the 
minimum  price  of  small  cuts  being  from  10  to  15c. 

Stereotypes  cost  from  i}i  to  3c  per  square  inch:  the 
minimum  price  of  small  cuts  being  8c  to  12c  per  small 
cut;  50  per  cent  additional  is  usually  charged  for  metal 
bases. 


120  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

FORM  OF  PAGE  FOR  CATALOGUES  AND  BOOKLETS. 

Many  advertisers  would  be  very  much  surprised  to 
know  that  the  reason  their  catalogues  did  not 
look  more  attractive  is  because  of  a  lack  of  sym- 
metry in  the  make-up  of  the  pages.  It  is  a  well  accepted 
rule  that  the  page  should  be  arranged  so  that: — the  diag- 
onal measure  of  a  page  from  the  folio  in  the  upper  cor- 
ner to  the  opposite  lower  corner  should  be  just  twice 
the  width  of  the  page.  As  Bigelow  says:  "This  is  no 
arbitrary  technical  rule,  but  is  in  conformity  to  the  law 
of  proportion  establishing  the  line  of  beauty;  it  applies 
equally  to  all  objects  of  similar  shape,  and  satisfies  the 
eye  completely.  A  long-brick  shaped  page  or  book  will 
not  look  well,  however  nicely  it  may  be  printed.  When 
we  come  to  a  quarto  or  square  page,  the  true  proportion 
of  the  diagonal  to  the  width  will  be  found  to  be  as 
10^2 :6^4 — the  size  Of  a  good  shaped  quarto — instead  of 
2:1,  as  in  the  oblong,  or  octavo.  And  this  shape  also 
proves  as  satisfactory  to  the  eye  as  the  former  one. 
However  large  or  small  the  page  may  be,  these  propor- 
tions should  be  maintained  for  a  handsome  book." 

BOOK  PAPERS. 

ANTIQUE   FINISH. 

Antique  Book  is  very  spongy  with  a  dead  finish  that 
is  without  gloss.  In  the  majority  of  instances  it  is  used 
in  order  to  make  a  work  look  bulky.  A  book  that  is 
printed  on  Antique  finish  has  bulk  and  lightness.  You 
cannot  use  this  kind  of  paper  to  print  half-tones  or  fine 
engravings,  but  coarse  wood  cuts  or  zinc  etchings  can 
be  printed  acceptably  on  it. 

LAID    FINISH. 

This  paper  is  made  with  bars  or  lines  like  water 
marks  running  through  the  sheets.  This  finish  offers 
very  poor  printing  surface  for  fine  half-tones  or  zinc 
etchings. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  121 

ENAMELLED  FINISH. 

Enamelled  finish  is  a  very  high,  glossy  surface,  in- 
tended primarily  for  printing  half-tones.  This  surface  is 
made  by  a  coating  of  clay,  chalk  or  other  mineral  sub- 
stances, and  furnishes  a  hard,  brittle  paper  of  no  parti- 
cular durability,  but  capable  of  taking  a  fine  half-tone  or 
zinc  etching. 

S.    AND   C.    FINISH. 

(Sized  and  Calendered.) 

This  paper,  is  sometimes  called  M.  F.  Book;  other- 
wise known  as  Machine  Finished.  Its  surface  is  smooth 
without  a  gloss,  and  is  used  principally  for  the  com- 
moner grades  of  book  work  and  will  take  a  zinc  etching 
nicely,  but  will  only  take  a  coarse  screen  half-tone. 

S.  AND  S.   C.  FINISH. 

(Sized  and  Supercalendered.) 

This  approaches  the  enamelled  stock  in  grade,  hav- 
ing a  hard  finish  with  a  glossy  surface. 

In  order  to  detect  the  finish  of  a  paper  make  a 
cylinder  of  it  so  the  light  will  reflect  on  the  surface  of  the 
cylinder.  If  it  is  an  enamelled  stock  it  will  show 
up  strong  reflections,  smooth,  hard,  and  very  glossy  and 
if  it  is  any  of  the  other  grades,  it  will  appear  less  glossy, 
until  in  the  Antique  finish  you  will  get  little  more  than 
the  effect  of  soft  cloth. 

TERMS  FOR  SPECIAL  POSITION  OF  ADVERTISEMENT. 

In  ordering  advertisements  inserted  in  magazines  and 
publications  in  specifying  the  position,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  write  a  long  letter  of  instructions.  The  fol- 
lowing aSbreviations  are  sufficient  to  show  the  location 
desired : 

N.  T.  R. — next  to  reading  matter. 

O.  A.  P. — only  ad  on  page. 

T.  P.  N.  R.  M. — top  page  next  to  reading  matter. 

T.  C.  R.  M. — top  column,  next  to  reading  matter. 


122  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

F.  P. — full  position — i.e.,  wholly  along  side  of  read- 
ing matter,  top  of  column,  or  following  reading  in  a 
broken  column. 

R.  P. — run  of  paper,  which  means  no  position  speci- 
fied. 

P.  P. — preferred  position,  nearly  the  same  meaning 
as  full  position. 

MEASUREMENT    OF    ADVERTISING    SPACE. 

Advertising  space  is  measured  almost  uniformly  in 
Agate  type,  fourteen  Agate  lines  unleaded  making  one 
inch.  Nonpareil  is  sometimes  used,  twelve  unleaded 
Nonpareil  lines  making  one  inch. 

STANDARD   COLUMN    WIDTHS. 

The  standard  measurement  for  newspaper  columns 
is  2  1-6  inches  wide,  or  13  pica  ems.  Some  of  the. maga- 
zines such  as  "The  Ladies'  Home  Journal"  and  "The 
Youth's  Companion"  are  2^  inches  wide,  or  133/2  Pica 
ems.  The  standard  magazine  column  is  2^  inches  wide 
or  16  Pica  ems.  Electrotypes  to  be  used  in  both  maga- 
zines and  newspapers  should  be  made  the  narrowest 
measure,  unless  it  is  deemed  wise  to  incur  the  extra 
expense. 

SIZES  OF  POSTERS. 

Posters  come  in  sheets.  The  standard  size  of  a 
sheet  is  28x42  inches. 

STREET  CAR  CARDS. 

The  standard  size  of  street  car  cards  is  11x21 
inches.    They  are  generally  cut  from  stock  22x42  inches. 

TO    CALCULATE    THE   WEIGHT   OF    PAPER. 

Paper  is  sold  almost  universally  by  the  weight  per 
pound,  and  is  put  up  in  bundles  of  five  hundred 
sheets  which  is  called  a  printer's  ream.  These  reams 
weigh  according  to  the  unit  of  the  weight  of  the  paper — 
for  instance,  a  25  x  38  enamelled  paper  may  weigh  60 
pounds,  or  70  pounds  or  80  pounds  and  so  on  to  any  spe- 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  123 

cial  weight,  25  x  38  being  the  size  of  the  sheet,  and  it 
takes  500  sheets  to  weigh  60  pounds;  if  the  paper  were  a 
little  heavier,  the  same  number  of  sheets  the  same  size 
would  weigh  70  pounds  and  so  on  up  to  any  special 
weight. 

It  is  oftentimes  necessary,  however,  for  the  buyer 
of  paper  to  be  able  to  calculate  what  a  ream  of  paper  32  x 
44  of  the  same  relative  weight  of  a  sheet  of  paper  25  x  38, 
would  cost.  Divinne  has  given  a  very  good  rule  on  this 
subject.  "When  paper  of  irregular  sizes  must  be  ordered, 
and  it  is  important  to  retain  a  certain  thickness,  as  in 
the  case  of  enlargement  of  a  form  of  ordinary  24mo.  to 
32mo.,  or  in  case  of  a  reduction  to  a  i6mo.,  the  proper 
weight  of  the  size  wanted  may  be  determined  by  a  simple 
calculation,  thus:  The  difference  between  24  and  32,  or 
between  24  and  16,  is  8,  or  eight  twenty-fourths,  or  one- 
third.  The  size  of  paper  wanted  should  weigh  one-third 
more  for  the  thirty-two  page  form,  or  one-third  less  for 
the  sixteen-page  form. 

When  the  proportion  between  the  sizes  is  not  regu- 
lar, as  in  the  above  case,  the  desired  weight  may  be  found 
by  reducing  both  sizes  (the  paper  in  use,  and  the  paper 
desired)  to  square  inches,  making  a  question  in  simple 
proportion.  For  example:  To  find  the  weight  of  a  ream 
of  paper  20  x  30  inches,  as  a  ream  24  x  38  inches,  weigh- 
ing 40  pounds.  Multiply  together  the  length  and  width 
of    the    smaller    size,    20x30  9i2:6oo::40 

which      gives      600      square  40 

inches.     Multiply  the  length  

and     width     of     the    larger        912)24000(261/3  lbs. 
sheet,     24x38,     which     gives  1824 

912  square  inches.   It  is  now  

a  simple  question  of  propor-  5760 

tion.     As  912  is   to  600,   so  5472 

is  40  to  the  answer,  which  

is  26  1/3."  288,  or  about  1/3. 


124  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

Checking  Returns  on  Form  Letters. 

WHERE  inquiries  are  answered  by  form  letters, 
the  follow-up  system  will  require  that  where 
the  letter  in  answer  to  the  first  inquiry  fails  to 
get  an  order,  the  name  will  then  be  put  in  the  follow-up 
file,  and  a  second  letter  will  then  be  sent  to  that  inquirer 
together  with  a  number  of  others  in  rotation  certain 
periods  apart.  In  order  to  find  out  what  certain  form 
letters  are  producing,  it  is  the  best  practice  to  make  out 
a  form  letter  card  ruled  somewhat  as  shown  opposite. 

~)  

Form  Letters  and  Form  Paragraphs. 

ANY  one  dictating  a  large  number  of  letters  will  find 
upon  reflection  that  he  is  using  a  constant  succes- 
sion of  sentences  applicable  to  certain  situations 
which  arise  from  time  to  time,  constantly  repeating  the 
same  sentence  each  time  the  situation  occurs. 

A  little  thought  will  enable  the  correspondent  to  pick 
out  a  large  number  of  these  paragraphs  which  may  be 
copies  in  duplicate,  one  copy  being  retained  by  the  corre- 
pondent  and  one  copy  handed  to  the  stenographer.  The 
paragraphs  are  then  lettered  or  numbered  and  in  dictat- 
ing a  letter  any  paragraph  is  inserted  in  its  proper  place 
in  the  letter,  being  indicated  to  the  stenographer  by  its 
number  only.  Fully  one-half  of  the  ordinary  run  of  let- 
ters can  be  handled  in  this  way. 

A  form  letter  should  be  clear,  concise  and  to-the- 
point  and  should  give  definite  information.  It  is  ex- 
tremely unprofitable  to  cut  a  form  letter  so  short  that  it 
lacks  that  element  of  complete  information  for  which  the 
possible  customer  is  asking.  It  is  absolutely  absurd  to 
say  that  form  letters  should  be  but  a  page  in  length.  It 
has  been  found  that  form  letters  containing  as  much  as 
twenty-five  hundred  words  have  proved  very  much  more 
effective  and  profitable  than  letters  containing  but  three 
hundred  words. 

In  the  mail  order  business  the  great  majority  of  the 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 


125 


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126  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

business  is  obtained  by  the  personality  displayed  in  form 
letters.  Personality  in  salesmanship  is  the  element  that 
makes  sales,  so  salesmanship  in  form  letters  is  the  ele- 
ment that  brings  orders. 

A  series  of  form  letters  covering  the  different  re- 
quirements of  the  correspondents  should  be  arranged 
and  keyed  and  numbered  in  such  a  fashion  as  not  to 
interfere  with  the  impression  that  they  are  personally 
dictated,  as  the  vast  majority  of  mail  order  correspon- 
dents resent  being  treated  as  a  mass.  Therefore,  form 
letters  should  be  arranged,  for  instance,  where  the  word 
''Dictated"  with  the  initials  of  the  party  dictating  and 
those  of  the  stenographer  are  generally  placed,  I.  c, 
"Diet.  H.  C. — M.  R.,"  something  like  the  following: 
"Diet.  H.  C— Mio."  The  "Mio"  is  used  as  the  key 
number  of  the  particular  form  letter,  so  that  the  cor- 
respondence clerk  in  answering  takes  the  inquiry,  marks 
"Mio"  on  it,  and  hands  it  to  a  typewriter  to  fill  in  the 
name  and  address.  This  saves  the  time  of  dictation  and 
insures  a  uniform  excellence  in  the  replies. 


Indexing   Form   Letters   and    Form    Paragraphs. 

FORM  letters  should  be  arranged  in  loose  leaf  scrap 
books  and  a  complete  set  furnished  to  each  clerk, 
stenographer,  manager  or  typewriter  handling  in- 
quiries. 

From  time  to  time  it  will  be  necessary  to  substitute 
new  forms  for  old  ones.  The  old  forms  can  easily  be 
removed  from  the  loose  leaf  book  and  new  ones  inserted. 

Form  paragraphs  can  be  numbered  i,  2,  3,  etc.,  and 
in  answering  such  inquiries  the  correspondence  clerk 
can  mark  on  the  inquiry,  Paragraph  1,  which  would  be 
the  ordinary  form  of  acknowledgment,  and  then  Para- 
graph 15,  26  and  33,  (dealing  with  the  subject  of  the 
inquiry)  and  ending  with  Paragraph  2,  which  may  be  the 
ordinary  form  of  closing. 

The  paragraph  idea,  of  course,  applies  to  a  method 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  127 

of  answering  letters  where  each  answer  is  especially 
typewritten. 

Form  letters  may  be  printed  in  imitation  of  type- 
writing so  cleverly  done  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
detect  the  difference  between  the  printed  letter  and  the 
especially  dictated  letter. 

It  pays  to  have  the  letter  bear  all  the  ear  marks  of 
personal  dictation,  even  though  it  means  a  considerable 
relative  additional  cost. 


Keying  Advertisements. 

KEYING   advertisements   is   the  modern  method   of 
finding  out  just  what  a  particular  line  of  publica- 
tions, or  what  particular  publication  of  a  number 
is   bringing   the   best   returns    from   a   certain   advertise- 
ment. 

There  are  several  ways  of  keying  an  advertisement. 
One  is  making  a  special  offer  and  attaching  a  coupon  to 
the  ad,  requiring  that  the  coupon  be  filled  out  and  sent 
in  before  the  special  offer  is  good.  This  coupon  con- 
tains a  statement  of  where  the  ad  was  taken  from.  The 
coupon  idea,  however,  is  only  useful  in  comparatively 
large  spaces,  such  as  pages  or  half-pages  in  the  maga- 
zines, or  proportionately  large  spaces  in  the  newspapers. 
The  coupon  pays  better  in  the  magazines. 

Some  advertisers  key  their  ads  by  changing  the 
street  address  on  each  ad.  This,  in  case  where  a  large 
number  of  publications  of  similar  circulation  are  used, 
is  rather  deceptive  in  determining  results  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  possible  customer  in  answering  the  ad 
may  be  influenced  by  magazines  which  do  not  get  the 
credit  for  their  work,  and  it  has  the  additional  drawback 
in  such  cases  of  arousing  suspicions  of  possible  customers. 

Others  change  the  number  of  the  rooms  in  the 
building  which  they  occupy. 

Others  request  the  possible  customer  to  address  a 
different  department.  This  is  being  used  by  a  number 
of  the  larger  concerns. 


128  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

Probably  the  best  way  to  key  an  ad  is  to  make  a 
special  offer  in  each  magazine,  so  differentiating  the 
offers  as  to  give  a  complete  index  to  the  magazines 
bringing  the  most  replies.  It  has  one  important  draw- 
back however,  of  not  putting  all  the  magazines  on  the 
same  plane. 

Up-to-Date  Method  for  Record  of  Purchases. 

WHEN  supplies  are  required  a  regular  order  is 
made  out  and  the  order  is  also  entered  on  the 
loose  leaf  purchase  record,  which  is  placed  in  a 
file  indexed  with  guide  cards  for  each  kind  of  supplies 
used.  This  file  is  divided  into  three  compartments, 
namely : 

Goods  Ordered. 

Goods  Received. 

Bills  Audited  for  Payment. 
When  the  bill  is  received  the  items  and  extensions  are 
checked  with  the  order,  and  the  date  of  receipt  of  bill  is 
inserted  in  the  purchase  record,  together  with  the  quan- 
tity and  amount  according  to  the  bill  to  which  the  pur- 
chase record  is  attached.  When  the  goods  are  received, 
the  bill  is  stamped  with  a  rubber  stamp  calling  for  date 
received,  freight,  express,  or  cartage. 

The  bill  and  purchase  record  are  now  transferred  to 
the  "goods  received"  compartment.  These  bills  are  then 
audited  for  payment  on  the  last  day  of  the  month  and 
placed  in  the  "audited"  compartment,  a  recapitulation 
being  made  of  the  amounts,  the  total  of  which  is  credited 
to  accounts  payable  account  in  the  general  ledger.  The 
recapitulation  sheet  also  contains  the  distribution  to  the 
various  representative  accounts,  to  which  the  totals  of 
the  various  columns  are  posted.  No  accounts  with  credi- 
tors are  carried  in  the  ledger.  Wherever  bills  are  regu- 
larly discounted,  and  paid  at  certain  fixed  dates,  it  is  a 
waste  of  time  to  open  separate  ledger  accounts  with  each 
concern  from  whom  purchases  are  made.  The  paid  bills 
attached  to  the  vouchers  should  be  placed  in  vertical  files, 
and  as  all  the  bills  emanating  from  one  house  will  be  filed 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


129 


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together  immediate  reference  can  be  obtained  whenever 
desired.  It  will  be  seen  from  our  illustration  that  the 
purchase  record  is  a  duplicate  of  the  order  for  the  goods 
and  bears  the  same  number.  In  businesses  where  it  is 
preferred  to  carry  ledger  accounts  with  creditors,  this 
system  could  be  advantageously  adapted,  as  posting  could 
be  made  direct  from  the  purchase  record  without  the 
intervention  of  any  other  book,  the  order  number  supply- 
ing the  place  of  book  folio. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  description  that  the  invoices 
received  cannot  only  be  referred  to,  but  information  can 
be  obtained  at  a  glance  as  to  whether  the  bill  of  goods 
has  been  received;  as  to  whether  the  goods  are  ac- 
cording to  order,  and  the  bill  correct;  and  as  to  whether 
the  bill  has  been  audited  or  paid;  ancl  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  no  extra  time  has  been  consumed  because  it 
is  just  as  easy  to  place  the  bill  in  one  file  after  reference 
has  been  made  to  it  as  to  place  it  in  the  file  in  which  it 
was  originally  contained. 


The    Envelope    System    for    Indexing    Clippings, 
Data,  &c. 

HOW  many  times  has  the  busy  business  man  said 
to  himself:  "I  saw  an  article  in  the  magazine 
about  that  thing  the  other  day.  I  wish  I  could 
remember  where  it  was  I  saw  it  for  it  had  a  direct  bear- 
ing on  just  this  subject."  Of  course,  you  read  the  trade 
papers  applying  particularly  to  your  own  trade  of  busi- 
ness. You  read  The  Book-Keeper  and  Business  Man's 
Magazine  to  gain  information  about  things  and  general 
business  procedure.  You  do  these  things  for  the  sake 
of  the  information  you  gain,  why  not  index  all  the  in- 
formation you  come  across  in  such  a  fashion  that  it  will 
be  constantly  available  for  your  use  whenever  you  desire 
to  call  for  it.  To  do  this,  that  is,  to  render  it  constantly 
available,  it  is  simply  necessary  to  cut  out  all  of  the 
articles  which  attract  your  special  attention  or  if  you 
do  not  desire  to  mutilate  the  magazine  in  which  you  find 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUT.  131 

the  article  hand  it  over  to  your  stenographer  to  be  copied 
on  the  typewriter  and  after  you  have  cut  the  article  out 
or  after  a  copy  has  been  made  it  is  ready  for  filing.  A 
series  of  envelopes  lettered  with  the  various  letters  of  the 
alphabet  will  answer  if  you  do  not  expect  to  accumulate 
a  very  large  stock  of  clippings  but  in  order  to  make  the 
whole  subject  matter  of  these  clippings  constantly  avail- 
able from  any  standpoint  it  is  well  to  .use  a  card  index; 
for  cross  indexing  the  subjects  dealing  with  the  various 
clippings.  As  time  goes  on  you  will  find  that  the  en- 
velopes used  to  preserve  the  clippings  are  divided  into 
smaller  and  smaller  divisions  and  as  a  consequence  your 
cross  index  will  grow  in  accordance.  We  will  say  that 
you  are  the  head  of  a  large  mercantile  institution  hav- 
ing special  control  of  the  collections,  you  find  an  article 
in  some  magazine  or  newspaper  dwelling  upon  the  legal 
features  in  connection  with  a  replevin  suit  in  the  state  of 
Ohio.  These  clippings  would  naturally  be  filed  in  the 
envelope  devoted  to  law  which  envelope  in  its  turn  might 
well  be  subdivided  into  alphabetical  division,  your  card 
index  showing  that  any  particular  clipping  you  desire 
should  be  found  under  the  head  of  replevin  subdivided 
R.  in  the  legal  envelope.  The  best  way  to  cross  index  all 
these  subjects  is  to  give  them  their  title  from  the  way 
in  which  they  are  the  most  easily  brought  to  your  mind 
when  you  read  the  article,  in  other  words  ask  yourself 
how  would  I  refer  to  this  if  an  inquiry  regarding  it 
came  to  my  mind  a  little  later  on. 


System  for  Recording  Advertising   Results. 

Each  publication  should  have  a  card  made  out  for  it 
along  the  line  of  the  following  form: 

The  key  number,  or  the  method  of  keying  the  ad 
should  be  incorporated  in  the  statement  of  the  contract 
and  the  correspondence  clerk  should  be  required  to  keep 
an  accurate  record  of  inquiries,  orders  or  correspondence 
produced   by    the    advertisement.      At    the   end    of   each 


132 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 


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134  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

month  a  summary  record  should  be  made  according  to 
the  form  on  opposite  page. 

In  this  way  the  advertising  manager  is  enabled  to 
keep  constantly  before  him  the  exact  results  obtained 
from  his  advertising  campaign  not  only  as  to  the  value  of 
the  mediums  concerned,  but  the  relative  value  of  different 
offers  in  different  advertisements. 


Some  Correspondence  Time  Savers. 

GETTING  THE  LETTERS  READY  TO  ANSWER. 

MUCH  time  can  be  saved  by  a  correspondent,  both 
for  himself  and  his   stenographer,   if  the   corres- 
pondence is  properly  arranged  before  calling  the 
stenographer  to  take  the  dictation. 

When  the  mail  comes  to  the  desk  it  should  be  care- 
fully read  and  those  letters  which  can  be  answered  at 
once  placed  by  themselves.  The  letters  on  which  addi- 
tional data  is  required  should  be  laid  aside  and  complete 
information  necessary  to  an  intelligent  answer  obtained 
before  they  are  placed  with  those  which  are  ready  for 
answer.  Then  when  the  stenographer  is  called  the  let- 
ters may  be  dictated  without  interruption  and  the  time 
of  the  stenographer  is  not  wasted  in  waiting  for  the 
information   to   be   obtained. 


A    Novel    Way    to    Emphasize    in    Typewritten 
Letters. 

IN  some  of  the  new  and  improved  "Visible  writing" 
machines  it  is  possible  to  produce  a  novel  and 
attractive  effect  by  printing  a  word,  line,  or  sen- 
tence in  vivid  red  while  the  body  of  the  letter  is  green, 
purple,    or    blue. 

This  is  done  by  inserting  a  slip  of  red  carbon  paper 
behind  the  ribbon  at  the  time  the  emphasized  words  are 
written,  removing  the  carbon  as  soon  as  those  words  are 
finished. 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  135 

Getting  Correspondence  Data. 

WHERE  there  are  several  persons  employed  in  an 
office  it  is  a  mistake  to  require  the  stenographer 
to  spend  his  or  her  time  in  looking  up  minor 
details  necessary  to  answer  a  letter.  That  duty  can  be 
more  profitably  delegated  to  an  employe  whose  time  is 
less  valuable.  For  instance  if  a  letter  is  required  from 
the  iiles,  it  is  better  to  send  the  office  boy  to  the  file 
clerk  to  get  the  letter.  When  information  about  an 
account  is  wanted,  make  a  memo,  on  the  letter  and 
send  to  the  accounting  department  with  instructions  to 
return  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is  not  always  possible  for 
the  accountant  to  furnish  the  desired  information  at 
once  without  serious  interference  with  work  which  he 
is   doing. 

Except  in  unusual  instances,  the  business  will  be  bet- 
ter served  all  around  if  the  information  is  allowed  to  come 
through  in  regular  routine.  There  is  no  use  in  having 
the  stenographer  attempt  to  look  up  details  with  which 
someone  else  in  the  office  is  much  more  familiar. 


Dictating  by  Numbers. 

ONE  of  the  best  time  savers  in  dictating  is  to  desig- 
nate each  letter  by  a  number.  When  the  corres- 
pondence is  taken  up  for  reply,  number  the  letters 
beginning  with  number  one.  Instead  of  giving  the 
stenographer  the  name  and  address  call  the  number  of 
the  letter  which  the  stenographer  will  enter  in  the  note 
book.  If  a  numbering  machine  is  used  the  series  may 
be  continued  throughout  the  day,  otherwise  it  is  better 
to  begin  with  number  one  each  time  the  stenographer 
is  called  to  the  desk. 

In  handling  ordinary  business  correspondence  the 
writer  has  found  that  about  twenty  per  cent  of  the  time 
is  saved  where  the  stenographer  does  not  stop  to  write 
the  name  and  address.  When  the  fact  thai  this  means 
the  saving  of  the  time  of  both  the  correspondent  and 
the  stenographer  is  considered,  it  will  be  seen  ihat  an  econ- 
omy worthy  of  consideration  results  from  the  scheme. 


136  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

Making  Corrections. 

WHEN  corrections  are  to  be  made  in  a  letter  the 
stenographer  is  aided  to  a  considerable  extent 
by  properly  indicating  the  corrections.  If  a 
word  is  to  be  erased  and  another  substituted  draw  a 
light  line  under  the  word  and  on  the  margin  at  the  end 
of  the  line  write  the  word  to  be  substituted  and  place  the 
proofreader's  sign,  meaning  the  word  is  to  be  killed. 
The  correction  can  then  be  made  without  re-writing 
the  entire  letter.  In  case  of  a  misspelled  word  it 
may  be  indicated  by  a  line  underneath  and  the  correct 
spelling  written  at  the  end  of  tiie  line  in  which  it  appears. 


To  Save  Postage. 

MANY  concerns,  especially  those  having  several 
departments,  each  having  correspondence  of 
their  own,  can  save  postage  expense  in  a  con- 
siderable amount  by  making  sure  that  all  mail  matter 
addressed  to  one  person  during  the  day  by  every  depart- 
ment is  enclosed  under  one  cover.  To  do  this  it  is  only 
necessary  to  provide  the  mailing  clerk  with  a  supply 
of  envelopes  addressed  to  those  parties  with  whom  the 
firm  is  in  constant  correspondence.  The  various  depart- 
ments writing  letters  to  these  parties  then  send  their 
letters  each  day  to  the  mailing  clerk  without  envelopes, 
he  enclosing  them  in  the  same  envelopes  at  the  close  of 
the  day  or  whenever  the  mail  is  made  up. 

In  case  of  concerns  having  branch  agencies  the 
saving  in  this  direction  will  be  considerable  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  and  in  addition  to  this  the  receipt  of  all  com- 
munications from  the  home  office  under  one  cover  will 
be  found  convenient  by  the  party  receiving  the  mail. 
Much  annoyance  is  caused  at  times  by  the  placing  of 
insufficient  postage  on  letters  for  foreign  countries. 
This  can  be  obviated  by  giving  the  various  stenogra- 
phers a  supply  of  envelopes  already  stamped  with  a  5c 
stamp.  When  writing  the  letter  the  stenographer 
will,   of  course,   note  that   it  is   addressed  to  a   foreign 


3USINESS   SHORT   CUTS  137 

country  and  using  the  stamped  envelope  will  prevent  an 

insufficient  amount  of  postage,  thus  obviating  the  annoy- 
ance of  delay  which  is  sometimes  fraught  with  grave 
consequences  in  the  forwarding  of  important  mail. 

Sorting  Mail  for  Filing. 

DID  you  ever  watch  a  filing  clerk  in  an  office  where 
a  large  volume  of  mail  was  received,  trying  to 
sort  the  mail  so  it  could  be  quickly  filed? 
She  probably  made  neat  little  piles  of  letters,  some  of 
them  on  the  desk  and  a  couple  more  in  her  lap,  trying 
to  get  all  of  the  Jones',  Smiths'  and  Browns'  together. 

Before  she  gets  half  through  she  finds  she  has 
not  nearly  enough  room  to  sort  all  the  letters,  so  she 
files  those  that  are  already  sorted  and  then  proceeds  to 
go  through  the  same  operation  with  the  balance. 

A  great  time  saver  is  one  of  the  sorting  trays,  such 
as  are  used  with  the  vertical  filing  system.  This  tray 
is  made  like  a  card  tray  but  very  much  larger.  Inside 
it  is  about  twelve  inches  wide,  five  or  six  inches  high, 
and  about  twenty  inches  in  length.  Like  the  card  trays 
it   is   provided  with   an   adjustable   follower. 

By  using  a  set  of  alphabetical  indexes  standing  up- 
right in  the  tray,  the  mail  can  be  very  quickly  sorted. 
The  "A's"  are  thrown  in  front  of  the  "A"  guide  or  the 
"B's"  in  front  of  the  "B"  guide  and  so  on  until  the 
entire  mail  is  sorted.  It  is  then  but  the  work  of  a 
moment  to  re-sort  the  "A's"  when  they  are  ready  for 
filing. 

If  the  numerical  system  of  filing  is  used,  these  in- 
dexes should  be  numbered  instead  of  lettered,  one  index 
to    a   hundred   numbers. 


Copies  of  Replies  Attached  to  Originals. 

WHETHER  or  not  impression  copies  of  letters  are 
taken  time  can  be  saved  in  the  end  if  a  carbon 
copy    of    the    reply    is    attached    to    each    letter. 
This-  may  be  attached  by  the  stenographer  with  a  drop 


138 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTb  139 

of  mucilage  or  paste.  When  it  becomes  necessary 
to  refer  to  any  correspondence  in  the  files  the  original 
letter  and  copy  of  the  reply  are  found  together,  giving  a 
more  complete  history  of  the  particular  subject 
referred  to. 


Distributing  the  Mail. 

IN  many  concerns  it  is  the  custom  to  deliver  all  mail 
for  each  department  to  the  department  head,  by 
whom  it  is  distributed  to  his  subordinates.  Where 
there  is  a  large  amount  of  correspondence  to  be  re- 
ferred to  several  different  individuals  it  is  inconven- 
ient to  distribute  it  on  the  desk  and  keep  that  for  each 
individual  by  itself.  To  aid  in  a  rapid  distribution  a 
desk  file  is  a  great  convenience.  These  files,  which  are 
designed  for  use  on  the  desk  can  be  had  with  an  alpha- 
betical arrangement — a  compartment  for  each  letter 
of  the  alphabet — or  with  numbered  compartments.  Use 
the  initials  of  the  individuals  or  indicate  each  by  a  num- 
ber and  as  the  letters  are  read  place  each  in  its  proper 
compartment.  As  each  lot  of  mail  is  distributed,  the  let- 
ters can  be  sen  to  the  proper  individuals  and  all  confu- 
sion avoided.  ' 


Method  of  Taking  Care  of  the  Cash  Receipts  of  a 
Mail  Order  Business. 

ALL  mail  received  should  be  opened  by  one  special 
clerk,  and  stamped  with  the  date  and  also  the  hour 
when  received.  Letters  containing  money  should 
be  sent  direct  to  the  cashier,  who  enters  them  in  a  special 
ticket  form  of  cash  book.  The  pages  should  be  large 
enough  to  contain  ten  tickets,  perforated  down  the  cen- 
ter, and  next  the  binding  and  also  crosswise  so  that  the 
tickets  can  be  taken  out  and  arranged  alphabetically  for 
entry  into  the  loose  leaf  ledger,  or  else  on  a  card  system. 
The  book  should  be  made  with  the  tickets  uppermost, 
and  a  plain  sheet  underneath,  printed  and  ruled  like  the 
tickets   above,   and   all   tickets   and   duplicates  numbered 


140  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

the  same  by  a  hand  numbering  machine,  and  by  using  a 
carbon  sheet  duplicate  copy  is  left  in  the  book.  The 
tickets  are  taken  out  and  given  to  the  ledger  clerk  and 
entered  to  its  proper  account,  then  all  the  tickets  are 
arranged  and  passed  over  to  the  treasurer  or  other  con- 
fidential clerk  who  checks  over  the  tickets  with  the 
ledger  leaf  or  card  to  see  that  all  are  posted  to  their 
proper  accounts. 

The  cashier  next  draws  off  a  list  showing  the  ticket 
number  and  the  amount,  the  balance  on  hand  in  the 
morning,  plus  the  total  footing  of  the  sheet  will  give  the 
balance  on  hand  at  night,  all  of  which,  or  most  of  it, 
should  be  turned  over  to  the  treasurer.  By  this  method 
a  very  strict  watch  is  kept  on  the  cashier,  and  if  the 
mail  clerk  is  made  to  number  all  remittances  going  to 
the  cashier,  with  a  numbering  stamp,  and  reports  the 
same  to  the  treasurer,  it  would  be  almost  impossible  for 
any  defalcation  to  occur  without  collusion. 


A  Perpetual  Inventory  System. 

BY  a  very  simple  and  inexpensive  card  system  de- 
scribed herewith,  which  with  slight  alterations  to 
suit  the  conditions  of  the  stock,  can  be  made  to 
conform  to  the  requirements  of  any  business,  a  book- 
keeper or  accountant  having  in  charge  the  accounting 
department  can  with  the  co-operation  of  his  employer 
submit  a  complete  statement  of  this  business  at  any  time 
it  might  be  called  for.  In  the  vast  majority  of  business 
houses,  an  inventory  is  a  job  of  several  days  and  at  times, 
weeks  duration.  A  short  cut  in  inventories  should  there- 
fore prove  of  incalculable  value  to  the  up-to-date  and 
enterprising  business  man.  For  lack  of  space  the  sim- 
plest forms  of  such  cards  is  given  here. 

The  stock  card  as  you  will  note  is  ruled  with  debit 
and  credit  columns  much  in  the  same  manner  as  a  ledger 
card  and  the  article  represented  on  the  card  is  charged 
with  the  quantity  placed  in  stock  and  credited  with  all 
that  is  removed  for  sale.    A  blank  space  is  left  at  the  top 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  141 

of  the  card  for  the  name  of  the  article  and  at  the  right 
of  the  card  are  twelve  lines  for  balances  on  hand.  This 
permits  of  an  inventory  of  the  goods  on  hand  being 
shown  once  a  month  if  so  desired  and  in  a  great  many 
business  houses  today  a  statement  of  profits  or  losses,  as 
the  case  may  be,  is  required  monthly  instead  of  the  usual 
custom  of  the  annual  inventory. 

It  would  be  impractical,  of  course,  to  make  an  entry 
on  these  cards  each  time  during  the  day  that  an  article 
was  taken  out  of  stock,  and  a  small  blank  is  used  for 
jotting  down  the  date,  article,  quantity  taken  and  by 
whom  taken,  a  form  being  shown  below.  These  are  de- 
posited in  a  receptacle  conveniently  placed  and  once  a 
day  gathered  up  by  the  person  in  charge  of  recording  the 


STOCK  MEMORANDUM 


Date 


Article 


Quantity  _ 
Taken  by_ 


entries  on  the  stock  cards.  A  competent  office  boy  can 
be  placed  in  charge  of  this  work.  A  few  minutes  each 
morning  is  sufficient  to  enter  them.  It  is  advisable,  of 
course,  to  sort  them  and  enter  the  total  of  each  article 
for  the  day  in  one  sum. 

The  plan  described  is  applicable  to  any  business 
where  the  stock  is  made  up  of  merchandise  of  consider- 
able bulk  or  where  the  stock  is  not  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  is  sold  in  broken  packages.     In  the  latter  case  when 


142 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


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BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


143 


entering  the  article  on  the  stock  card  it  should  be  charged 
with  the  number  of  packages  or  boxes  placed  in  stock 
and  credited  with  one  package  or  box  whenever  broken. 
For  instance,  with  a  box  of  buttons  in  a  retail  business  it 
would  not  be  convenient  to  stop  and  enter  each  card 
sold,  consequently  when  a  box  of  that  particular  article 
is  broken  it  should  be  credited  on  the  card  as  one  box. 
It  is   also   of  advantage   in   some  lines  to  carry  on   the 


STOCKKEEPER'S  ORDER. 


No.. 


.190 


Please  deliver  to  bearer  the  following  articles  : 


Quantity 


STOCK 


No. 


Rec'd  by 


By  order 


cards  what  would  be  known  as  reserve  stock,  taking  from 
that  stock  each  morning  an  amount  sufficient  to  meet  the 
ordinary  sales  for  a  day  and  making  it  out  in  a  lump. 
These  examples  are  merely  to  show  that  any  conditions 
can  be  met  £y  the  system,  and  by  making  it  a  serious 
offense  to  remove  from  the  stock  any  article  without  first 
making  out  the  "stock  memorandum,"  an  accurate  condi- 


144 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 


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146  BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS 

tion  of  stock  is  always  at  hand  at  a  few  moments'  notice, 
the  balance  of  stock  on  hand  being  taken  off  the  cards 
just  as  the  trial  balance  from  the  ledger. 

If  you  are  in  a  business  of  such  dimensions  as  to 
require  a  regular  stockkeeper  and  an  exclusive  buyer, 
this  scheme  can  be  elaborated  to  meet  a  threefold  pur- 
pose. First,  a  ready  inventory  at  one's  command;  second, 
an  absolute  check  on  a  dishonest  stockkeeper  as  well  as 
an  absolute  check  for  the  honest  stockkeeper  that  all 
goods  that  have  left  his  charge  have  been  on  a  written 
requisition  from  a  duly  authorized  party;  a  perfect  buy- 
er's guide  and  reference  which  is  explained  below.  To 
conform  to  these  conditions  the  stock  memorandum 
should  be  made  in  the  form  of  a  requisition  on  the  stock- 
keeper,  a  form  very  simple,  and  answering  the  purpose 
of  the  two  combined,  being  given  herewith.  These  should 
be  made  in  duplicate,  the  party  issuing  the  requisition  re- 
taining the  copy,  the  original  being  filed  by  the  stock- 
keeper  until  the  time  he  chooses  to  enter  it  on  the  stock 
cards.  By  having  these  orders  numbered  and  filed  con- 
secutively after  they  have  been  entered  they  make  a  valu- 
able reference. 

The  stock  card  in  order  to  meet  the  requirements 
mentioned  above,  should  be  ruled  with  spaces  for  the 
name  and  address  of  the  party  from  whom  the  goods  were 
purchased,  and  a  space  for  entering  the  "low  mark"  de- 
termined upon  by  the  buyers. 

In  addition  to  the  ruling  formerly  shown  a  form  is 
given  in  the  accompanying  illustration  as  an  example. 
When  a  card  is  made  for  any  article  the  buyer  should 
enter  in  the  space  "low  mark,"  the  minimum  the  stock 
should  be  allowed  to  reach,  at  which  point  he  should  be 
notified  of  the  fact: 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  buyer  has  an  ever- 
ready  reference  at  hand  obviating  any  excuse  for  the 
often  repeated  "I  didn't  know  we  were  out." 

In  installing  such  a  system  it  is  best  to  commence  St 
the  time  a  general  inventory  is  taken,  when  it  would  then 
be  a  matter  of  convenience  to  make  out  the  cards  from 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


147 


the  inventory,  debiting  each  card  with  amount  shown  on 
hand  at  that  time. 

In  a  great  many  wholesale  houses,  where  nothing 
whatever  is  taken  from  stock  except  to  fill  an  order,  and 
as  all  such  houses  have  uniform  order  blanks  on  which 
all  orders  are  made,  a  considerable  time  can  be  saved  by 
having  these  orders  go  to  the  person  keeping  the  stock 
cards  before  final  filing.  The  entries  on  the  stock  cards 
can  then  be  made  from  these  orders  doing  away  with  the 
extra  blank  styled  as  the  "stock  memorandum." 


A  Scheme  for  the  Solicitor. 

THE  successful  solicitor  or  salesman  keeps  a  com- 
plete list  of  all  prospective  customers.      A  scheme 
which  is  now  largely  used  by  insurance  solicitors 
can  be  adopted  to   good   advantage  by   salesmen  in  all 
lines. 

When  calling  on  a  man  for  the  first  time  obtain  all 
the  information  possible  that  will  be  of  service  in  making 
a  sale  at  some  future  time  and  make  a  memo,  of  this 
on  a  card.    A  card  about  3x5  inches  in  size  is  convenient 


148  BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 

for  the  pocket  and  has  many  advantages  over  a  memo, 
book.  These  cards  may  be  preserved  for  future  use  and 
all  information  about  each  customer  is  by  itself  instead 
of  being  hidden  between  a  lot  of  other  memos,  of  every 
character.  When  the  solicitor  returns  to  his  office  or 
hotel  he  can  leave  all  cards  of  parties  who  are  not  to  be 
seen   for  some  time. 

ARRANGING    CALLS. 

Before  starting  out  in  the  morning  the  solicitor 
should  arrange  his  prospect  cards  so  that  his  calls  can  be 
made  without  loss  of  time   in   going  back  over  ground 


I 


1        2      M      A-        5        G        1         &qio 


Source 


Letters  /  J 

I    2    d    4-    5 


Fif.A 

already  covered,  In  a  city  the  cards  can  be  very  easily 
arranged  by  streets  so  that  when  the  solicitor  is  in  any 
locality  he  can  refer  to  the  cards  and  make  his  calls.  In 
soliciting,  the  best  results  can  only  be  obtained  by  lay- 
ing out  the  day's  work  and  sticking  to  it.  Select  a 
territory  that  can  be  conveniently  covered  duiing  the 
day,  and  do  not  waste  time  going  from  one  pait  ot  the 
•*:*3?  to  another. 


BUSINESS   SHORT   CUTS  149 

ARRANGING    PROSPECT   CARDS. 

When  a  prospect  card  is  made  out  it  should  be  filed 
in  such  a  manner  that  it  will  not  be  referred  to  until  it 
needs  attention.  The  best  way  to  arrange  this  is  to  have 
a  small  card  file  or  tray  fitted  with  a  monthly  and  daily 
index.  This  consists  of  a  set  of  twelve  index  cards 
printed  with  the  months  and  thirty-one  numbered 
indexes  to  indicate  the  days.  Such  an  outfit  can  be 
obtained  at  any  stationers.  If  a  man  is  to  be  seen  in 
three  days — ten  days — a  month  of  three  months,  place 
his  card  in  the  proper  place  in  the  file  and  it  will  come 
to  light  at  the  right  time. 

This  same  sort  of  a  file  can  be  used  to  advantage 
by  any  business  man  for  keeping  track  of  his  appoint- 
ments and  all  matters  requiring  attention  at  a  future 
date. 


A  Card  System  for  the  Credit  and  Collection  Desk. 

CONSIDERING  that  the  time  and  labor  spent  on 
watching  and  collecting  accounts  of  a  doubtful 
nature  is  an  extra  expense  aside  from  actual  cost 
of  doing  business,  any  and  all  possible  means  of  reducing 
such  expense  by  way  of  saving  time  in  handling  those 
accounts  should  be  adopted  wherever  the  present  methods 
can  be  improved  upon,  and  a  few  suggestions  in  this  con- 
nection will  undoubtedly  assist  a  great  many  whose  duties 
include  such  work.  We  recommend  in  the  following 
description  a  card  system  for  this  purpose,  as  there  is  no 
substitute  which  allows  so  much  information  to  be  shown 
at  a  mere  glance,  as  can  be  shown  with  cards,  using 
guides  and  tabs  for  indexing  and  cross  indexing  for 
name,  address  and  dates  on  which  each  card  requires 
attention.  The  form  of  card  for  this  purpose  should  be 
a  5x8  card,  having  an  ordinary  5x8  drawer  or  desk  tray 
to  contain  them.  The  illustration  shown  here  in  reduced 
size,  requires  no  explanation,  it  being  plain  as  to  what 
the  several  columns  are  intended  for;  the  numbers  at  the 
top  of  the  card  being  the  date  of  the  month  on  which 


150 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS 


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'JUSTNESS   SHORT   CUTS 


151 


to  place  the  tab,  as  described  further  on.  Generally  the 
credit  man  looks  over  the  monthly  statements  given  him 
by  the  book-keeper,  and  lays  to  one  side  all  statements 
requiring  his  attention.  When  he  has  done  this  and 
is  ready  to  write  a  letter  accompanying  them  or  inclose 
a  notice  of  draft,  his  stenographer  should  have  a  supply 
of  the  cards  in  a  convenient  place.  He  can  be  instructed 
to  fill  in  the  card  and  make  notations  in  accordance  with 
the  letter  or  notice  which  is  sent  with  each  statement. 
It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  months 
it  would  be  seldom -necessary  to  make  out  new  cards, 
only  as  a  new  account  requires  special  attention.  If  the 
accounts  of  this  nature  are  of  sufficient  number,  it  will 
be  found  most  convenient  to  index  the  cards  by  states 
and  towns,  otherwise  indexing  them  alphabetically  by 
names  of  debtor  only,  will  be  sufficient.  When  a  letter  is 
written  a  card  should  immediately  be  made,  where  there 
is  none  already  in  the  file  and  the  proper  entries  inserted 
in  the  several  columns;  for  example:  John  Doe  on  the 
first  of  June  owes  a  balance  of  $245,  and  the  credit  man 
merely  asks  for  a  remittance  on  the  10th  following:  The 
stenographer  makes  the  entries  on  the  cards  as  follows: 


2       4       6       8      (10)       12      14      16      18      20      22      24      26      28      80 
Name Ledger  Folio 


Date 

Balance 

Pay- 
ments 

Letters 

Drafts 

Remarks: 

6-l-'04 

$245.00 

6-2 

Asked  to  Remit 

152 


BUSINESS   SHOR1    CUTS 


It  will  be  noted  that  a  tab  h  put  on  the  cards  at 
the  point  numbered  10.  This  indicates  from  the  top  of 
the  card  that  the  account  needs  attention  again  on  that 
date.  By  cutting  out  a  card  of  stiff  board  the  same  width 
but  3-8  inch  higher  than  the  record  cards  and  number- 
ing on  the  top  edge  corresponding  to  the  numbers  on  the 
cards,  it  will  be  of  great  assistance  in  noting  the  dates  on 
which  the  tabs  are  placed.  For  further  convenience,  by 
using  two  different  colors  of.  tabs,  say  blue  for  "atten- 
tion" and  red  for  "draft,"  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  look 
at  the  cards  themselves  to  see  on  which  ones  drafts  are 
to  be  made  or  to  go  to  the  credit  man  for  letter  only. 
For  example:  Had  the  credit  man  written  Mr.  Doe  that 
he  would  draw  on  him  for  $50  on  June  10th,  the 
stenographer  would  make  the  following  entry  on  the  card, 
using  a  red  tab. 


1  2 


8      (10)      12      14      16      18      20      22      24      26      28 


Name- 


Ledger  Folio. 


Date 

Balance 

Pay- 
ments 

Letters 

Drafts 

Remarks: 

6-l-'04 

$245.00 

6-2 

Draw  10th,  $50.00 

Thus  o:\  the  ioth  this  card  and  all  others  bearing 
the  red  tat  on  that  date,  should  be  removed  and  given 
to  the  book-keeper,  who  should  refer  to  his  ledger  and  if 
no  payments  have  been  made,  draw  for  the  amount  noted 
on  card.  If  any  payment  or  payments  have  been  made, 
he  should  enter  them  in  the  proper  column,  showing  the 
date  and  amount  of  each  and  return  to  the  credit  man. 


BUSINESS  SHORT   CUTS  153 

The  same  course  should  be  taken  regarding  cards  -jabbe-1 
for  "attention,"  it  being  the  stenographer's  business  or 
whoever  may  be  designated  by  the  credit  man,  to  see  that 
all  cards  tabbed  are  given  to  the  book-keeper  promptly 
on  the  day  indicated,  he  in  turn  inserting  any  payments 
that  may  have  been  made  since  the  date  of  the  last  bal- 
ance shown  on  card,  and  handing  them  in  to  the  credit 
man. 

In  conjunction  with  this  system  it  is  sometimes  de- 
sirable to  have  all  correspondence  at  hand  when  writing 
a  customer  regarding  his  account  and  a  great  deal  of 
time  is  expended  in  most  houses  in  hunting  through  the 
general  files  among  a  vast  amount  of  other  papers  and 
correspondence  for  the  desired  letters.  If,  therefore,  a 
small  file  is  used  in  which  to  keep  all  live  collection  cor- 
respondence a  great  deal  of  time  is  saved  in  this  direc- 
tion. This  file  should  be  indexed  exactly  as  the 
cards  are  indexed.  That  is,  if  the  cards  are 
indexed  by  states  and  towns,  the  correspondence 
should  be  filed  in  accordance,  or  if  the  business 
is  not  of  such  dimensions  that  there  is  an  ad- 
vantage gained  in  indexing  in  this  manner,  it  is  better  to 
index  and  file  both  alphabetically  by  names  of  the  cus- 
tomers. When  the  correspondence  is  kept  separately  in 
what  would  be  styled  the  "Collection  File,"  for  attention, 
it  is  but  a  few  minutes'  work  when  cards  are  taken  out 
to  secure  the  correspondence  with  each  customer  repre- 
sented on  such  cards  and  attach  each  card  to  the  corre- 
spondence belonging  to  it  with  a  small  clip,  until  it  is 
ready  to  go  back  into  the  proper  place. 

While  a  great  many  accounts  in  any  business  need 
special  attention,  they  are  not  necessarily  bad  accounts 
and  the  collection  cards  being  ruled  for  twelve  months, 
the  new  balance  being  entered  each  month,  the  card  with 
its  references  becomes  a  very  valuable  adjunct  to  a  credit 
man's  records  and  when  filled  requiring  a  new  card  to 
be  made,  sh.mld  be  filed  with  the  credit  references  regard- 
ing the  account. 


im  BUilNESS  SHORT   CUTS 

"The  Office  Man's  Time." 

A  "TIME  SAVER"  which  borders  upon  the  ridicu- 
lous was  recently  published  in  a  leading  maga- 
zine. 

We  have  all  experienced  the  annoyance  of  the  caller 
who  outstays  his  welcome — in  other  words,  the  bore — 
the  man  who  does  not  know  how  to  quit.  The  story, 
told  at  the  bore's  expense,  is  as  follows : 

An  office  man  was  entertaining  a  caller — an  inti- 
mate friend — one  day  and  during  the  course  of  the  con- 
versation he  said:  "Do  you  see  that  office  boy  of  mine? 
He  has  the  greatest  scheme  you  ever  heard  of.  He  is 
a  bright  little  fellow  and  can  'spot'  a  bore  as  far  as  he 
can  see  one.  When  one  of  that  ilk  comes  into  my  office 
this  boy  will  give  him  about  so  much  time  and  then, 
coming  into  my  office  say  apologetically  'Mr.  Jones, 
have  you  overlooked  that  engagement  you  had  at  2:45, 
(or  4:10  naming  a  time  about  5  or  10  minutes  ahead.) 
This  gives  me  a  chance  to  get  rid  of  the  unHesirable 
visitor  without  offense — great  scheme — isn't  it?" 

The  visitor  assented  heartily  but  had  no  sooner 
done  so  than  the  office  boy  appeared,  holding  his  watch 
in  iiis  hand,  saying:  "Mr.  Jones;  have  you  overlooked 
your  1 1  -.35  appointment  ?"  The  rest  must  be  imagined— 
^ui-  the  bore  left  the  office, 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  t5i> 


CONTENTS. 


Rules   for  Locating   Errors  In  Trial  Balances ,5»ft-3«8-2» 

General   Rules  for  the   Detection   of  Transposition  of  Dollars  and 

Cents     ., .9-12 

How    to    Detect    Transpositions 12*13 

Labor    Saving    Method    for    Obtaining    Trial    Balances 18-14 

Lightning   Addition    14-15 

Labor    Saving    Method    of    Recording    Bank    Deposits    and    Check 

Withdrawals     (Illustrated)     17-18 

Device  for  Recording  of   Instalment  Collections   (Illustrated) 18-20 

An    Up-To-Date    Cash    Book    (Illustrated) 20-22 

Labor    Saving    Methods    of    Keeping    Instalment    Accounts    (Illus- 
trated)       , 23-25 

Labor    Saving    Method    for    Keeping    Accounts    Receivable    in    an 

Ice    Business    (Illustrated)     25-26 

Special    Form    for    Customer's    Ledger 

Figuring    Percentages    29-31 

An   Efficient   System   for   Handling  Drafts    (Illustrated) 30-33 

Labor    Saving   Card   Ledger    System    (Illustrated) 32-33 

Expense     Adjustment »      34 

Rule    for   Finding   Real   Discount    34-35 

A    Few    Pointers   About    Checks    33-38 

Ascertain     what    Amount    Invested    Will     With     Interest    Added 

Amount  to  a  Given   Sum  in  a  Specified  Time .....38-40 

Some   Arithmetical    Short   Cuts    •••••«.4tHU» 

Multiplication  by   Subtraction. 
Adding  from   Right  to  Left. 
Sectionalization    and    Controlling   Accounts    (illustrated)...  »;..«..  .44*49 

The    Reverse    Posting    System    (Illustrated) 49-6o 

Labor   Saving   Method   for   Sundry  Accounts    (Illustrated) 55 

General    Ledger    (Illustrated)     55-57 

Simple    Interest    Formula    57-58 

Economical  Form   of  Sales   Ledger   (Illustrated) 58 

Sinking   Fund    Computations    58 

A    Bond    Purchase    Formula    60-61 

The   Present   Value   of   Bonds    61-62 

A   Credit   Man's   Ledger    (Illustrated) 62-63 

Proof  of  Casting  Out  of  Nines   62-64 

The    Check    Figure    11 65-66 

The   12%   Method    of    Computing    Interest 66-69 

Interest    on    Daily    Balances     , 69 

Some   Arithmetical    Oddities    t G2-73 

The   100    Problem    73 


156  BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS 

An   efficient   Voucher    System    (Illustrated)    73-75 

Labor   Saving   Retail    Sales    Record    75-77 

A    Quotation    Record    for   the   Buyer    (Illustrated) 77-78 

At-.  Efficient  Method  for  Keeping  Record  of  Office  Supplies  (Illus- 
trated)      79-81 

Efficient    System    fpr    Keeping    Track    of    Piece    Work    in    Clothing 

Business    (Illustrated)     81-84 

A   Card   System    for   the   Memory    84-85 

An    Order    Register    (Illustrated) 85-87 

Perpetual     Inventories ' 87-88 

Time  Savers  for  the  Office  Man    88-89 

Labor     Saving    System    for    Keeping    Track    of    Printing    Matter 

(Illustrated)    , 89-92 

Tools   and   Their   Care    (Illustrated) 93-94 

A  Quick   System  for   Filling  Orders 95 

To    Finger    Cards   in   Tray    (Illustrated) 95-97 

A    Safe    Guard    for    Correspondence    Files    (Illustrated) 97-98 

A  Reminder  Which  Will  Not  be  Overlooked 99 

Loose    Leaf    Inventory    Taking     99 

Handling   Orders    , 100 

To   Finger   Cards  Rapidly    101-103 

A   Quick   Collection    System    103 

Labor    Saving    Ledger    Card    Index 103-104 

Efficient  Method  of   Paying  Employes   in   Large   Factories 105 

A    System    for    Supplanting   Purchase   Ledger 106 

A  Quick   Method  of  Making  Settlements 106 

A   Scheme   to    Insure   Prompt   Handling   of   Correspondence 107-108 

A  Few  Pointers  in  Regard  to  Promissory  Notes 109-110 

A    Goods    Wanted    Register    (Illustrated) 110-111 

A    Cross    Index    (Illustrated)     '. 112-113 

Short  Cuts  for  Users  of  Printing   114 

Number  of  Words  in   a  Square   Inch 114 

The   Size   of  an    Em    115 

Shipping    Tags     115 

Table   for   Ordering   Letter   Heads,    Bill    Heads,    etc 115-116 

Ems  in   a  Square   Inch    116 

Size    of    Envelopes    117 

Scale    of    Sizes    of    Cut    Cards 117 

Styles  of   Engraving  in   General   Use  in  Advertising 118 

Half-tone     .  „. 118 

Zinc    Etching 118-119 

Electrotypes     H9 

Stereotypes H9 

fiVit   of    Engraving 119 

t'Qim  of  Page  for  Catalogue  and  Booklets 120 

Book   Papers 120 

How  to  Determine  the  Finish  ui  .'.'/ye*    •«#•*•*•-« I20 


BUSINESS  SHORT  CUTS  157 

Terms  For  Special   Position  of  Advertisements 121 

Measurement  of  Advertising   Space 122 

Standard   Column   Width    122 

Sizes    of   Posters    122 

Sizes  of  Street   Car  Cards 122 

Checking    Returns    on    Form    Letters 124 

To   Calculate  the   Weight  of   Paper 122-123 

Form    Letters   and    Form    Paragraphs 124-126 

Indexing  Form   Letters  and   Form  Paragraphs 126 

Keying    Advertisements     127-128 

Up-to-Date   Method    for    Recording   Purchases.      (Illustrated) 128-130 

Invaluable    System    for   Indexing    Clippings,    Data,    etc 130-131 

System   for   Recording  Advertising  Returns.    (Illustrated) 131-134 

Some  Correspondence  Time   Savers 134 

Getting  Letters  Ready   to   Answer 134 

A  Novel  Way  to  Emphasize  in  Typewritten  Letters 134 

Getting   Correspondence   Data    135 

Dictating  by  Numbers    135 

Making    Corrections    136 

To   Save   Postage    136 

Sorting  Mail   for  Filing   (Illustrated) 137 

Copies  of  Replies  Attached  to  Originals. 137 

Distributing    Mail    139 

Method  of  Taking  Care  of  Cash   Receipts   of  a  Mail  Order   Busi- 
ness       139 

A    Perpetual    Inventory    Systejm    (Illustrated) 140147 

A  Scheme  for   the   Solicitor.    (Illustrated)    147 

A  Card  System  for  the  Credit  and  Collection  Desk.   (Illustrated)  .149  153 
The  Office  Man's  Time 154 


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FORM  NO   DD  6                               UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKEL 

BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

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YB  67542 


M513296 


#T536"£ 
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